Division         ^^^^^C 

Section  0/6  7  <=^ 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


BY 


JOHN  A.  BROADUS,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

PROFESSOR  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,  LOUISVILLE,  KY. 


SECOND    EDITION.       FOURTH   THOUSAND. 


n 


EICHMOND,  VA. 
B.  F.  JOHNSON  AND  COMPANY. 

1887. 


Copyright,  1880,  by  H.  M.  Wharton  &  Co. 


JaH.  O    KODUCItS  PUINIINU  Co  , 

62  and  M  N.  Sixth  Street, 
PitiLAOcLruiA,  Pa. 


TO  THE 

Hon.  J.   L.  M.   GURRY,   LL.D.. 

UNITED   STATES   mInISTER  TO   SPAIN. 

I  send  across  the  sea  a  slight  token  of  our  friendship.  You 
have  often  shown  that  a  man  of  the  highest  gifts  as  a  public 
speaker  may  give  to  less  favored  men  an  interested  and  sympathetic 
attention.    May  you  long  live  to  serve  your  generation  by  the  will 

of  God. 

With  cordial  affection, 

J.  A.  B. 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR: 
A  Treatise  on  the  Preparation  and  Delivery  of 
Sermons.     New  York  :  A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Sou, 
714  Broadway. 

Lectures  on  the  History  of  Preaching.      New 
York  :  Sheldon  &  Co.,  724  Broadway. 

A  Commentary  on  Matthew.    Philadelphia  :  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Publication  Society,  1'120  Chestnut  St. 


PEEFAOE. 


Some  of  these  sermons  have  been  published  in  periodi- 
cals, or  printed  for  private  distribution ;  others  are  now  for 
the  first  time  in  print.  Nearly  all  were  taken  down  by 
stenographers,  whether  for  a  periodical  or  for  the  preacher. 
In  revising,  it  has  not  usually  seemed  best  to  remove  the 
colloquial  phrases,  and  the  occasional  breaks  in  construc- 
tion, which  naturally  mark  freely  spoken  discourse.  Where 
necessary  in  order  to  account  for  illustrations  or  other 
allusions  in  a  sermon  or  address,  the  occasion  of  its  delivery 
has  been  stated  in  a  note.  Several  of  the'  sermons  have 
been  preached  to  a  good  many  churches ;  and  persons  who 
remember  well  in  that  line  may  be  interested  in  noticing 
differences,  sometimes  numerous  and  considerable,  due  to 
altered  circumstances  or  the  preacher's  varying  moods. 
Some  of  the  addresses  are  quite  familiar  in  tone ;  others 
were  made  on  a  dignified  or  solemn  occasion. 

Everything  in  the  volume  that  is  not  of  quite  recent 
origin,  has  been  carefully  revised.  The  task  has  awakened 
a  thousand  precious  memories  of  those  among  whom  I 
have  gone  preaching  the  gospel.  I  pray  God's  blessing 
upon  them  all ;  and  his  blessing  upon  these  printed  dis- 
courses, that  they  may  do  some  good. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

WORSHIP. 


PAGE 
{At  the  dedication  of  the  Second  Bcqytist  Church  in  St.  Louis.) 
God   is  a  Spirit:   and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and 

truth.— John  iv.  24 1 

II. 
SOME   LAWS   OF  SPIRITUAL  WORK. 
One  soweth,  and  another  reapeth.    Others  have  labored,  and  ye  are  entered  into 

their  labor.— JouN  iv.  34-38 2''> 

III. 

THE   HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS. 
/In  everything  give  thanks,— I  Tiiess.  v.  18 45 

IV, 

ENCOURAGEMENT  TO   PRAY. 
Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you.— Matt.  vii.  7 S7 

V. 

HE  EVER  LIVETH  TO   INTERCEDE. 

Wherefore  also  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  that  draw  near  unto  God 
through  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them  — Heb. 
vii.  25 '0 

VI. 

LET  US  HAVE  PEACE  WITH  GOD. 
Being  therefore  justified  by  faith,  let  us  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord 


Jesus  Christ.— KoM.  v.  1 


85 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 


VII. 


HOW   THE   GOSPEL   MAKES   MEN   HOLY. 
0  wretciied  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of  this  death  ? 

1  thauk  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.— Kom.  vii.  24,  25 97 

VIIL 

INTENSE    CONCERN    FOE,    THE    SALVATION    OF    OTHERS. 
For  I  could  wish  that  myself  were  accui-sed  from  Christ  fur  my  brethren. — Kom. 

ix.  3 110 

IX. 

THE    MOTHER    OF    JESUS. 
Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus— Acts  i.  14 124 

X. 

THE  APOSTLE  PAUL  AS  A  PREACHER. 
{Preached  when  chaplain  to  the  University  of  Virginia.) 

Unto  me,  who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  was  this  grace   given,  to 

preach  unto  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.— Eph.  iii.  8  .    1S9 

XI. 

THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES. 
And  that  from  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  holy  scriptures,  which  are  able  to 
make  theowise  unto  salvation  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus. — 

2  Tim.  iii.  15 1,55 


XII. 

ON   READING   THE   BIBLE  BY   BOOKS. 

Address  before  the  International  Convention  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  1881 Ifi? 


XIII. 

MINISTERIAL   EDUCATION. 
{Sermon  before  the  Baptist  Society  for  Ministerial  Education  in  Missouri. ) 
Give  diligence  to  present  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  necdeth 
not  to  be  ashamed,  handling  aright  the  word  of  truth.— 2  Tim.  ii.  15    .   . 


CONTENTS.  ix 

XIV. 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  IN  A.D.    1774. 

Address  at  the  opening  of  a  session  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  216 

XV. 

COLLEGE  EDUCATION   FOR   MEN  OF   BUSINESS  ....  248 

XVI. 

EDUCATION   IN  ATHENS. 
Address  before  the  Society  of  Alumni  of  the  University  of  Virginia 268 


XVII. 

MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 
Read  before  the  Society  of  Alumni  of  the  University  of  Virginia 303 

XVIII. 

AN  EMINENT  MAN  OF  SCIENCE  AN  EARNEST  CHRISTIAN. 
Address  at  a  banquet  in  honor  of  Dr.  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  Louisville,  Ky.,  1879.  348 

XIX. 

FUNERAL  SERMON  FOR  G.  W.    RIGGAN,   D.D. 

{In  the  Broadway  Baptist  Church,  Louisville,  Ky.,  1885.) 
For  none  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  none  dieth  to  himself.     For  whether  we 
live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord;  or  whether  we  die,  we  die  unto  the  Lord- 
whether  we  live  therefore,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's-EoM.  xiv.  7,  8  .  .   .'352 

XX. 

THE  CONFEDERATE  DEAD. 
At  Cave  Hill  Cemetery,  Louisville,  1886 oro 


XXI. 

MEMORIAL   OF  A.   M.   POINDEXTER,   D.D. 
Read  before  the  Virginia  Baptist  Historical  Society,  November,  1886 373 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES, 


I. 

WORSHIP* 


God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  tvorship  him  vitist  worship  him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth. — Jolin  iv.  24. 

JESUS  was  tired.     The  little  that  we   know  of  the 
history  just  before,  yet  enables  us  to  see  cause  why 
He  should  have  been  tired. 

He  had  been,  for  long  months,  engaged  in  active 
efforts  to  save  men's  souls — to  lift  men  out  of  their 
sluggishness  and  worldliness  toward  God.  That  is  hard 
work  for  mind  and  heart.  And  he  had  been  at  work 
among  many  who  were  hostile.  The  disciples  of  John 
were  some  of  them  envious  that  their  master  was  de- 
creasing and  another  was  increasing,  though  John  said 
it  was  right  and  good ;  and  when  the  Pharisees  heard 
that  Jesus  was  now  making  and  baptizing  more  disci- 
ples than  John,  they  were  jealous.  They  made  it  need- 
ful that  he  should  withdraw  from  Judea,  as  so  often 
during  his  brief  ministry  he  had  to  withdraw  from  the 
jealousy  of  his  enemies  or  the  fanaticism  of  his  friends, 
and  seek  a  new  field.  Worn  out  and  perhaps  sad  at 
heart,  the  Redeemer  sat  alone  by  Jacob's  well. 

♦  At  the  dedication  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  St.  Louis,  1879. 

1 


2  WORSHIP. 

Our  artists  owe  us  yet  two  compaDion  pictures, — the 
one  of  Jesns,  as  the  disciples  saw  him  when  they  turned 
back  to  loolc,  on  their  way  to  buy  food,  as  he  sat  and 
rested,  leaning  with  limbs  relaxed,  with  face  weary,  yet 
gentle;  and  the  other  of  Jesus  as  they  found  him  when 
they  came  back,  sitting  up  nov/  with  an  animated  look 
on  his  face,  busily,  eagerly  talking. 

Ah  !  there  was  an  opening  to  do  good,  and  he  who 
"went  about  doing  good'^  would  give  up  even  his 
needed  rest,  and  often  did,  we  know,  to  do  good  to  the 
least  and  the  lowest.  The  disciples  wondered  not  that 
he  was  ready  to  do  good ;  they  had  seen  that  often  al- 
ready. They  wondered  that  he  was  talking  with  a 
woman,  for  that  was  contrary  to  the  dignity  of  a  man 
according  to  the  ideas  of  that  time  and  country, — to  be 
seen  talking  with  a  woman  in  public.  They  wondered ; 
they  knew  not  yet  what  manner  of  spirit  they  were 
of, — that  they  had  to  deal  with  high  saving  truths  that 
break  through  all  weak  conventionalities. 

They  would  have  wondered  more  if  they  had  known 
what  he  knew  full  well, — that  it  was  a  woman  of  bad 
character;  and  yet  he  saw  in  her  potencies  for  good, 
and  he  did  win  her  that  day  to  faith  in  the  INIessiah 
who  had  come,  and  sent  her  forth  to  tell  others  to  come 
and  see  "a  man  who  had  told  her  all  things  whatsoever 
she  did.^' 

But  she  shrank  in  the  process.  Beautiful  and  won- 
derful it  is  to  see  how  admirably  our  Lord  led  the 
casual  conversation  -with  a  strangrer  so  as  to  introduce 

o 

the  profoundest  s])iritual  truths. 

My  Christian  friends,  let  me  not  fail  to  point  your 


WORSHIP.  3 

attention  to  this.  I  know  no  art  of  social  life  more 
needful  to  be  cultivated  in  our  time  and  country  than 
the  art  of  skilfully  introducing  religion  into  general 
conversation.  It  is  a  difficult  task.  It  requires  tact 
and  skill  to  do  this  in  such  a  way  as  to  accomplish 
much  good  and  no  harm ;  but  it  is  worth  all  your  ef- 
forts. Old  and  young,  men  and  women,  yea — shall  I 
say  it? — especially  young  ladies,  who  are  Christians, 
with  that  control  which  young  ladies  have  in  our  Amer- 
ican society,  need  to  cultivate  few  things  so  much  as 
just  that  power  which  the  Saviour  Ik  le  sliowed.  Oh  ! 
beautiful,  blessed  example  of  Jesus!  How  it  shines 
more  and  more  as  we  study  and  strive  to  imitate  it! 
And  not  only  did  he  lead  on  toward  religious  truth, 
but  he  knew  how,  in  a  quiet,  skilful  way,  to  awaken 
her  consciousness  to  a  realization  of  her  sinfulness,  so 
that  she  might  come  near  to  spiritual  truth.  She  shrank 
from  it,  I  said,  as  people  will  often  shrink  from  us 
when  we  try  to  bring  truth  home  to  their  souls.  She 
shrank,  and  while  not  wishing  to  turn  the  conversation 
entirely  away  from  religious  things,  she  would  turn  it 
away  to  something  not  so  uncomfortably  close,  and  so 
she  asked  him  about  a  great  question  much  discussed. 

"  Sir,  I  perceive  that  thou  art  a  prophet.  Our  fathers 
did  worship  in  this  mountain,''  and  right  up  the  steep 
slopes  of  Mount  Gerizim  she  would  point  to  the  mount 
high  above  them,  where  were  the  ruins  of  the  old  tem- 
ple of  the  Samaritans,  destroyed  a  century  and  a  half 
before.  "  Our  fathers  worshipped  in  this  mountain  ;  and 
ye  say  that  in  Jerusalem  is  the  place  where  men  ought 
to   worship.     O   prophet,    which    is    it?"     Again    the 


4  WORSHIP. 

Redeemer,  while  he  answers  her  question,  will  turn  it 
away  from  all  matters  of  form  and  outward  service,  and 
strike  deep  by  a  blow  into  the  spiritual  heart  of  things. 
"  AVoman,  believe  me,  the  hour  is  coming,  when  neither 
in  this  mountain  nor  in  Jerusalem  shall  ye  worship  the 
Father."  He  will  not  fail  to  imply  in  passing  that 
Jerusalem  had  been  the  right  place.  "  Ye  worship  that 
which  ye  know  not.  We  worship  that  which  we  know, 
for  salvation  is  from  the  Jews  '^ — he  only  mentions  that 
in  passing — ^^  but  the  hour  cometh  and  now  is,  when 
the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit 
and  truth,  for  such  doth  the  Father  seek  to  be  his  Avor- 
shippers." 

Only  spiritual  worship  will  be  acceptable  to  God  ;  this 
is  what  he  seeks,  and,  more  than  that,  this  is  what  the 
very  nature  of  the  case  requires.  "  For  God  is  a  spirit, 
and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit 
and  in  truth.'' 

I  wish  to  speak  of  the  worship  of  God,  and  I  shall 
ask  two  very  simple  questions  about  it,  and  try  to  some 
little  extent  to  answer  each  of  them. 

Why  should  we  worship  God  ?  How  should  we  wor- 
ship God  ? 

I.  A  man  might  well  draw  back  and  fear  to  say  one 
word  as  to  reasons  why  we  should  worship  God.  Oh  ! 
how  high,  and  wide,  and  deep,  that  theme  !  And  yet  it 
may  be  useful  just  to  remind  you  of  some  things  in- 
cluded in  these  expressions.  Why  ought  we  to  worship 
God  ?  Because  it  is  due  to  him  ;  and  because  it  is  good 
for  us. 

(1.)  That  we  should  render  to  God  worship  is  due 


WORSHIP.  5 

to  him.  My  dear  friends,  if  we  were  but  unconcerned 
spectators  of  the  glorious  God  and  his  wonderful 
works,  it  ought  to  draw  out  our  hearts  to  admiration 
and  adoration  and  loving  worship.  The  German  philoso- 
pher, Kant,  probably  the  greatest  philosopher  of  modern 
times,  said  :  "  There  are  two  things  that  always  awaken 
in  me,  when  I  contemplate  them,  the  sentiment  of  the 
sublime.  They  are  the  starry  heavens  and  the  moral 
nature  of  man."  Oh  !  God  made  them  both,  and  all 
there  is  of  the  sublime  in  either  or  in  both  is  but  a  dim, 
poor  reflection  of  the  glory  of  Him  who  made  them. 
Whatever  there  is  in  this  world  that  is  suited  to  lift  up 
men's  souls  at  all  ought  to  lift  them  towards  God. 

Kobert  Hall  said  that  the  idea  of  God  subordinates  to 
itself  all  that  is  great,  borrows  splendor  from  all  that  is 
fair,  and  sits  enthroned  on  the  riches  of  the  universe. 
More  than  that  is  true.  I  repeat,  all  that  exalts  our 
souls  ought  to  lift  them  up  toward  God.  Especially 
ought  we  to  adore  the  holiness  of  God. 

O  sinful  human  beings,  still  you  know  that  holiness  is 
the  crown  of  existence.  There  is  not  a  human  heart 
that  does  not  somehow,  sometimes  love  goodness.  Find 
me  the  most  wicked  man  in  all  your  great  city,  and 
there  are  times  when  that  man  admires  goodness. 
Yea,  I  imagine  ihevG  are  times  when  he  hopes  that 
somehow  or  other  he  may  yet  be  good  himself.  When 
a  man  we  love  has  died,  we  are  prone  to  exaggerate  in 
our  funeral  discourse,  in  our  inscriptions  on  tomb-stones 
and  the  like — to  exaggerate  what  ?  We  seldom  exagger- 
ate much  in  speaking  of  a  man's  talents,  or  learning,  or 
possessions,  or  influence,  but  we  are  always  ready  to  ex- 


6  WORSHIP. 

aggerate  his  goodness.  We  want  to  make  the  best  of 
the  man  in  that  solemn  hour.  We  feel  that  goodness  is 
the  great  thing  for  a  human  being  when  he  has  gone  out 
of  our  view  into  the  world  unseen.  And  what  is  it  that 
the  Scriptures  teach  us  is  one  of  the  great  themes  of  the 
high  worship  of  God,  where  worship  is  perfect  ?  Long 
ago  a  prophet  saw  the  Lord  seated  high  on  a  throne  in 
the  temple,  Avith  flowing  robes  of  majesty,  and  on  either 
side  adoring  seraphs  did  bend  and  worship,  and  oh  ! 
what  was  it  that  was  the  theme  of  their  worship?  Was 
it  God's  power  ?  Was  it  God's  wisdom  ?  You  know 
what  they  said — "Holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  of 
hosts.  The  whole  earth  is  full  of  His  glory."  And 
there  do  come  times,  O  my  friends,  to  you  and  me, 
though  we  lift  not  holy  hands,  for  we  are  sinful,  though 
we  dwell  among  a  people  of  unclean  lips,  there  come 
times  to  you  and  me  when  we  want  to  adore  the  holiness 
of  God. 

And  then  think  of  his  love  and  mercy  !  If  you  were 
only  unconcerned  spectators  I  said — thiiik  of  his  love 
and  mercy  ! 

He  hates  sin.  We  know  not  how  to  hate  sin  as  the 
holy  God  must  hate  it.  And  yet  how  he  loves  the 
sinner !  How  he  yearns  over  the  sinful  !  How  he 
longs  to  save  him  !  Oh,  heaven  and  earth,  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  will  have  it  so,  might  through  him  be  saved. 

I  know  where  that  great  provision,  that  mighty  mercy 
is  adored.  I  know  from  God's  word  that  those  high 
and  glorious  ones,  who  know  far  more  than  we  do  of  the 
glorious  attributes  of  the  Creator  and  the  wide  wonders 


WOPvSHIP.  7 

of  his  works,  when  they  have  sung  their  highest  song 
of  praise  for  God^s  character  and  for  creation,  will  then 
strike  a  higher  note  as  they  sing  the  praises  of  redemp- 
tion, for  holiness  and  redemption  are  the  great  themes 
which  the  Scriptures  make  known  to  us  of  the  worship 
in  heaven.  John  saw  in  his  vision  how  the  four  living 
creatures,  representing  the  powers  of  nature,  and  the  four 
and  twenty  elders,  representing  the  saved  of  God,  bowed 
in  worship,  and  how  a  wide  and  encircling  host  of  angels 
caught  the  sound,  and  how  it  spread  wider  still,  till  in 
all  the  universe  it  rolls,  "  Salvation  and  honor  and  glory 
and  power  be  unto  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  and 
unto  the  Lamb  forever  and  ever/^ 

Holiness  and  redemption  !  We  ought  to  adore  if  we 
had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  for  we  have  a  moral  nature 
to  appreciate  it.  And  oh !  are  we  unconcerned  spectators  ? 
That  most  wonderful  manifestation  of  God's  mercy  and 
love  has  been  made  towards  us.  And,  if  the  angels  find 
their  highest  theme  of  praise  in  what  the  gracious  God 
has  done  for  us,  how  ought  we  to  feel  about  it  ?  Yea, 
there  is  a  sense  in  which,  amid  the  infirmities  of  earth, 
we  can  pay  God  a  worship  that  the  angels  cannot  them- 
selves offer. 

"  Earth  has  a  joy  unknown  in  heaven  ; 
The  new-born  bliss  of  sins  forgiven." 

And  sinful  beings  here  may  strike,  out  of  grateful 
hearts  for  sins  forgiven,  a  note  of  praise  to  God  that 
shall  pierce  through  all  the  high  anthems  of  the  skies 
and  enter  into  the  ear  of  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts. 

(2.)  But  I  said  we  ought  to  worship  God,  not  only 


8  WORSHIP. 

because  it  is  due  to  Him,  but  because  it  is  good  for  us. 
Only  the  worship  of  God  can  satisfy,  O  my  friends,  the 
highest  and  noblest  aspirations  of  our  natures. 

When  anything  lifts  us  up,  then  we  want  God  as  the 
climax  of  our  exalted  thought,  and  our  thought  itself  is 
imperfect  without  it.  If  you  will  look,  as  I  looked  this 
morning,  in  the  early  light,  upon  the  glory  of  the 
autumn  woods,  faded  now,  yet  still  bright,  and  so 
beautiful ;  if  you  gaze  upon  the  splendor,  as  you  will  do 
when  this  service  is  ended,  of  the  nightly  skies ;  if  you 
stand  in  awe  before  the  great  mountains,  snow-clad  and 
towering,  before  Hermon,  before  the  wonderful  mount- 
ains of  our  own  wonderful  West ;  if  you  go  and  gaze  in 
the  silence  of  night  upon  the  rush  of  your  own  imperial 
river,  or  stand  by  the  sea-shore,  and  hear  the  mighty 
waters  rolling  evermore,  there  swells  in  the  breast  some- 
thing that  wants  God  for  its  crown  and  for  its  complete- 
ness. There  are  aspirations  in  these  strange  natures  of 
ours  that  only  God  can  satisfy.  Our  thinking  is  a 
mutilated  fragment  without  God,  and  our  hearts  can 
never  rest  unless  they  rest  in  God. 

And  worship,  oh,  how  it  can  soothe  !  Yea,  sometimes 
worship  alone  can  soothe  our  sorrows  and  our  anxieties. 
There  come  times  with  all  of  us  when  ever}i:hing  else 
does  fail  us ;  there  come  times  when  we  go  to  speak  with 
sorrowing  friends  and  feel  that  all  other  themes  are  weak 
and  vain.  You,  wicked  man  yonder — ^)'ou  have  gone 
sometimes  to  visit  a  friend  that  was  in  great  distress, 
who  had  lost  a  dear  child,  it  may  be,  or  husband  or 
wife ;  and  as  you  have  sat  down  by  your  friend  and 
wanted   to   say   something   comforting,   you   have   felt 


WORSHIP.  "  9 

that  eveiything  else  was  vain  but  to  point  the  poor  sor- 
rowing heart  to  God ;  and  you  felt  ashamed  of  yourself 
that  you  did  not  dare  to  do  that.  How  often  have  devout 
hearts  found  comfort  in  sorrow,  found  support  in  anxiety, 
by  the  worship  of  God  ;  by  the  thought  of  submission  to 
God  and  trust  in  God ;  a  belief  that  God  knows  what 
he  is  doing ;  that  God  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning ; 
that  God  makes  '^  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
those  that  love  him  ?' 

And  I  add  that  the  worship  of  God  nourishes  the 
deepest  root  of  morality — individual  and  social.  Moral- 
ity cannot  live  upon  mere  ideas  of  expediency  and 
utility.  We  have  some  philosophers  in  our  day  (and 
they  show  abilities  and  earnestness  tliat  command  our 
respect,  though  they  may  seem  to  us  to  go  so  sadly  and 
so  far  astray)  who  have  persuaded  themselves,  alas  !  that 
Christianity  must  be  flung  aside ;  that  belief  in  God  even 
must  be  abandoned  ;  but  they  are  beginning  to  recognize 
the  necessity  for  trying  to  tell  the  world  wdiat  they  are 
going  to  put  in  place  of  that,  for  the  conservation  of  in- 
dividual and  social  morality ;  and  so  the  great  English 
philosopher  of  the  present  time  tells  us  in  a  recent  work, 
and  the  gifted  author  of  "  Theophrastus  Such,"  who  is 
one  of  his  followers,  has  told  us,  that  natural  sympathy 
will  lead  us  to  recognize  that  we  owe  duties  to  others  as 
well  as  ourselves.  Natural  sympathy  is  going  to  do 
that.  Ah,  I  trow  not.  Sometimes  it  will,  if  there  be 
something  mightier  that  can  help.  Often  natural  sym- 
pathy will  fail.  The  root  of  morality  is  the  sentiment 
of  moral  obligation.  What  does  it  mean  when  your 
little  child  first  begins  to  say  '^  I  ought  to  do  this  ''  and 


10  WORSHIP. 

I  ought  not  to  do  that  ?''  What  does  it  mean  ?  "  I  ought." 
The  beasts  around  us  are  some  of  them  very  intelligent. 
They  seem  to  think  in  a  crude  fashion.  They  seem  to 
reason  in  a  rudimentary  way.  Our  intellect  is  not 
peculiar  to  us.  They  have  something  of  it,  but  they 
show  no  sign  of  having  the  rudiments  of  the  notion  that 
"  I  ought"  and  '^  I  ought  not."  It  is  the  glory  of  man. 
It  marks  him  in  the  image  of  the  spiritual  one  that 
made  him.  And  what  is  to  nourish  and  keep  alive  and 
make  strong  that  sentiment  of  moral  obligation  in  our 
souls,  unless  it  be  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  there 
is  a  God  who  gave  us  this  high,  moral,  spiritual  being ; 
who  made  us  for  himself;  to  whom  we  belong,  because 
he  made  us,  and  because  he  made  us  to  love  him  until 
the  sentiment  of  obligation  to  him  shall  nourish  in  us 
the  feeling  of  obligation  to  our  fellow-men,  who,  like  us, 
are  made  in  his  image. 

But  we  are  told  that  there  is  going  to  be  a  moral 
interregnum  shortly ;  that  so  many  cultivated  men  in 
England  and  in  some  parts  of  our  country  are  rejecting 
all  religion ;  that  now  there  is  danger  that  society  will 
suffer  until  the  new  ideas  can  work  themselves  into 
popular  favor.  Yes,  indeed,  society  would  suffer  but  for 
one  thing,  and  that  is  that  still  there  are  and  still  there 
will  be  not  a  few  among  the  cultivated,  and  many,  thank 
God  !  among  those  who  are  not  blessed  with  cultivation, 
who  hold  fast  their  faith  in  the  only  true  God  and  in 
Jesus  Christ  Avhom  he  has  sent,  and  that  will  conserve 
society  and  hold  up  the  very  men  who  fancy  they  can  do 
without  Christianity. 

For  this  reason,  if  there  were  no  other,  it  would  be 


WORSHIP.  11 

worth  while  to  build  great  and  noble  churches  in  our 
great  cities,  as  we  build  monuments  for  other  things  to 
remind  men  of  grand  events  and  heroic  deeds ;  so  that 
if  churches  were  never  entered,  they  would  be  worth 
building  as  memorials,  as  reminders  of  God  and  eternity. 
Amid  the  homes  of  wealth  and  luxury,  amid  the  splen- 
did centres  of  commerce,  and  amid,  alas  !  the  palaces  of 
vice,  our  churches  stand  serene  and  still,  pointing  up, 
like  the  Christianas  hope,  toward  heaven.  The  thought- 
less, the  wayward,  worldly  and  wicked  will  sometimes 
look  as  they  pass,  and  as  from  the  monuments  over  some 
heroic  dead  man,  they  catch  a  moment's  impression  for 
good,  so  from  the  church  edifice  itself  they  will  catch  a 
momentary  impression  of  higher  things,  and  be  at  least 
a  little  restrained  from  what  is  wrong  and  a  little  incited 
towards  what  is  right. 

And  that  is  but  the  least  of  it.  The  great  nourisher 
of  morality  in  the  individual  and  the  community  is  not 
the  mere  outward  symbol ;  it  is  the  worship  that  is  paid 
within.  But  I  shall  say  no  more  oi\  this  theme.  All 
that  I  can  say  is  weak,  poor  and  vain.  How  can  a  man 
tell  the  reasons  why  we  should  worship  God  ?  They  are 
as  high  as  heaven,  as  wide  as  the  world,  as  vast  as  the 
universe ;  all  existence  and  all  conception — everything  is 
a  reason  why  we  should  worship  God  ;  and  I  turn  to  the 
other  question,  to  which  the  text  especially  points. 

II.  How  should  we  worship  God?  I  wish  here  to 
speak  only  of  that  line  of  thought  which  the  text  pre- 
sents, How  shall  we  worship  God  with  spiritual  wor- 
ship? 

The  spiritual   worship  the  text  points  out  to  us  is 


12  WORSHIP. 

essentially  independent  of  localities.  Time  was  when  it 
was  not  so :  when  the  best  worship  that  Avas  to  be 
expected  in  the  world  depended  upon  holy  places  and 
impressive  rites.  In  the  childhood  of  the  race  these 
ideas  were  necessary,  but  Christianity  came  as  the  matu- 
rity of  revealed  religion,  and  declared  that  those  ideas 
should  prevail  no  longer ;  that  true  Christian  spiritual 
worship  is  essentially  independent  of  localities. 

My  friends,  under  the  Christian  system  you  cannot 
make  holy  places  ;  you  cannot  make  a  holy  house.  We 
speak  very  naturally  and  properly  enough,  if  with  due 
limitation,  in  the  language  of  the  Ohl  Testament,  about 
our  places  of  worship,  but  we  ought  to  remember  con- 
stantly the  limitations.  You  cannot  consecrate  a  building 
in  the  light  of  Christianity.  You  can  dedicate  the 
building ;  you  can  set  it  apart  to  be  used  only  for  the 
worship  of  God ;  but  you  cannot  make  the  house  a  holy 
house ;  it  is  an  idea  foreign  to  the  intense  spirituality 
which  Jesus  has  taught  us  belongs  to  the  Christian  idea 
of  worship.  Why,  then,  one  might  say,  why  should  we 
have  houses  of  worship  ?  not  merely  because  if  there  is 
to  be  the  worship  of  assemblies  at  all,  with  all  the 
strange  power  that  sympathy  gives  to  aggregated  wor- 
ship, then  there  must  be  places  of  assembly  ;  bat  because 
these  soon  become  associated  with  the  solemn  worship  we 
hold  in  them  and  sacred  by  their  associations,  and  if  we 
do  not  disturb  those  associations,  if  from  the  places  where 
we  are  wont  to  hold  solemn  worship,  we  keep  carefully 
away  all  that  tends  to  violate  those  associations,  they 
grow  in  power  upon  us ;  they  do  not  make  the  place 
holy,  but  they  make  it  easier  by  force  of.  association  and 


WORSHIP.  13 

of  beneficent  habit  for  us  to  have  holy  thoughts  and  to 
pay  holy  worship  in  the  place  where  we  have  often  paid 
it  before.  So  we  can  see  why  it  is  fit  to  set  apart  places 
of  worship,  houses  of  v/orship  for  God,  though  they  be 
not  in  themselves  holy,  though  spiritual  worship  is  inde- 
pendent of  locality. 

Let  us  rise  to  a  broader  view  of  the  matter.    Spiritual 
worship  must  subordinate  all  these  externals. 

Can  you  listen  a  few  minutes  while  I  offer  a  plain, 
unadorned,  unimpassioned  statement  about  this  really 
practical  matter,  surely  suitable  to  our  circumstances, 
worthy  to  be  discussed ;  for  there  are  many  extremes 
about  it  among  men,  and  though  you  may  not  go  with 
my  thought,  it  may  help  you  to  think  the  matter 
through  for  yourself.  I  say,  then,  on  the  one  hand, 
spiritual  worship  must  have  its  externals.  For  while 
we  are  spiritual,  like  God,  we  are  something  else  also. 
We  have  a  material  nature,  and  we  are  all  closely  linked 
and  inter-dependent  and  acting  upon  each  other  contin- 
ually. It  is  idle,  then,  to  think  that  our  worship  will 
be  all  that  it  is  capable  of  becoming  if  we  try  to  keep  it 
exclusively  spiritual  and  give  it  no  outward  expression 
at  all.  When  you  try  to  pray  in  private  by  your  own 
bed-side,  alone  with  your  beating  heart  and  your  God, 
you  mistake  if  you  try  to  pray  without  couching  your 
thought  and  feeling  in  words.  We  need  the  force  of 
expression,  though  we  utter  not  the  words.  We  need 
to  hav^e  the  words  in  order  to  give  clearness  and  form  to 
our  thought  and  our  sentiment;  and  it  is  good,  even 
when  alone,  in  low,  solemn  tones  to  speak  aloud  one's 
private  prayer,  for  that  seems  someliow,  by  a  law  of  our 


14  WORSHIP. 

nature,  to  make  deeper  the  feeling  which  we  thus  out- 
wardly express ;  and  if  we  do  so  even  in  private  prayer, 
how  much  more  is  it  necessarily  true  in  public  wor- 
ship ! 

We  must  have  expression  tlien  for  our  w^orship,  that 
there  may  be  sympathy — expression  that  shall  awaken 
and  command  sympathy.  We  must  use  the  language 
of  imagination  and  passion  as  in  the  Scriptures.  The 
Scriptures  are  full  of  the  language  of  imagination  and 
passion — language  that  is  meant  to  stir  the  souls  of 
men.  And  when  we  sing — sing  in  the  simplest  and 
plainest  way,  if  you  please — we  are  yet  striving  to  use 
that  as  one  of  the  externals  of  spiritual  worship.  We 
need  it.  We  must  have  externals.  Why,  then — a  man 
might  ask,  and  men  often  have  asked — why  not  have 
anything  and  everything  that  will  contribute  at  all  to 
help  the  expression  and  cherish  the  devout  feeling? 
Why  not  have  everything  in  architecture,  everything  in 
painting  and  statuary,  everything  in  special  garments, 
in  solemn  processions,  in  significant  posture  ?  Why  not 
anything  and  everything  that  may  at  all  help  as  an  ex- 
ternal expression  of  devout  feeling?  Let  us  consider 
this,  I  pray  you.  I  said  spiritual  worship  must  have 
its  externals,  and  now  I  repeat  tliat  it  must  subordinate 
those  externals;  w^hatever  externals  it  cannot  subordi- 
nate it  must  discard,  and  the  externals  it  does  employ  it 
must  employ  heedfully.  There  are  some  things  that 
awaken  in  some  men  a  sort  of  fictitious,  quasi-devout 
feeling,  which  you  never  would  think  of  recommending  as 
aids  to  devotion.  Some  persons  when  they  use  opium 
have  a  dreamy  sort  of  devoutness,  and  some  persons, 


WORSHIP.  15 

even  when  they  become  drunk,  show  a  morbid  sort  of 
religion.  Yet  who  would  think  of  saying  that  these  are 
acts  that  help  to  devotion?  But  there  are  feelings  that 
are  right  in  themselves  and  noble  in  their  place  that  do 
in  some  cases  help  to  promote  devotional  feeling.  The 
husband  and  wife,  when  they  bow  down  with  their 
children  by  their  sides  to  pray  together,  and  then,  rising 
up,  look  lovingly  into  each  other's  eyes,  find  their  de- 
vout feeling  towards  God  heightened  by  their  love  for 
each  other  and  their  children.  I  can  fancy  that  the 
young  man  and  maiden  who  both  fear  God  and  have 
learned  to  love  each  other  may  sometimes  feel  their  de- 
vout sentiments  truly  heightened  by  this  new,  strange 
and  beautiful  aifection  which  they  have  learned  to  feel 
for  each  other.  That  is  so  sometimes,  and  yet  every- 
body sees  that  to  recommend  that  as  an  avowed  and 
systematic  thing  to  be  used  as  a  help  to  devotion  would 
be  out  of  the  question.  Not  everything,  then,  that  may 
promote  devotion  is  to  be  regularly  used  for  this  pur- 
pose. 

There  are  some  things  that  look  as  if  they  were 
necessary,  are  very  often  recommended  as  helpful,  and 
often  employed  as  helps,  that  turn  out  to  be  dangerous 
and  erroneous.  Why  can't  we  use  pictures  and  statu- 
ary as  helps  to  devotion?  Why  can't  we  employ  them 
as  proper  means  of  making  the  thought  of  our  Saviour 
near  and  dear  to  us?  Well,  in  all  the  ages  of  the 
world,  the  heathen  have  tried  this.  '  An  educated  young 
Hindoo,  some  years  ago,  educated  in  England,  wrote  an 
essay  in  which  he  complained  bitterly  that  the  Hin- 
doos were  accused  of  worshipping  images,  and  quoted 


16  WORSHIP. 

Cowper's  beautiful  poem  entitled,  "My  Mother's  Pic- 
ture:" 

"O,  that  those  lips  had  language! 
Years  have  passed  since  thee  I  saw." 

And  he  says,  the  picture  of  the  poet's  mother  brought 
close  and  made  real  the  thought  of  one  long  dead.  That 
is  the  way,  he  said,  that  we  use  images.  But  that  is 
not  the  vv^ay  that  the  great  mass  of  men  use  images  in 
worship.  They  have  often  meant  that  at  the  outset; 
but  how  soon  it  degenerated  and  was  degraded,  and 
these  things  that  were  meant  as  helps  to  worship 
dragged  down  the  aspirations  of  human  hearts,  instead 
of  lifting  them  up  !  But,  it  seems  to  me,  if  I  were  to 
employ  such  helps  in  our  time,  persuading  myself  that 
they  would  be  good,  that  I  should  feel  it  was  wise  to  go 
back  to  the  old  ten  commandments  that  we  teach  our 
children  to  repeat,  and  cut  out  the  second  command- 
ment, that  expressly  forbids  the  use  of  graven  images, 
because  it  necessarily  leads  to  idolatry.  I  should  cut 
that  oat.  You  can  inquire,  if  you  are  curious  to  do 
so — and  I  say  it  in  no  unkindness — you  can  inquire 
whether  those  Christians  in  our  own  time  and  country 
who  employ  pictures  and  statuary  to-day  as  helps  to 
devotion  have  mutilated  the  ten  commandments.  They 
were  obliged  to  leave  out  that  which  their  little  children 
would  say  was  forbidding  what  tiiey  do. 

Aye,  the  world  has  tried  that  experiment  widely  and 
in  every  way,  and  it  is  found  that  though  you  might 
think  that  pictures  and  statuary  would  be  helps  to  de- 
votion, they  turn  out  to  be  hurtful.  They  may  help  a 
few ;  they  harm  many.  They  may  do  a  little  good ; 
they  do  much  evil. 


WORSHIP.  17 

But  there  are  some  of  these  things  which  we  must 
have  to  some  extent, — church  buildings,  architecture, 
music,  cultivated  eloquence.  How  about  these?  We 
are  obliged  to  have  these.  We  must  have  the  rude  and 
coarse,  if  we  have  not  the  refined  and  elegant ;  and  just 
what  we  may  have  in  this  respect — why,  it  depends,  of 
course,  upon  what  we  have  been  accustomed  to  in  our 
homes,  our  places  of  public  assembly,  our  halls  of  jus- 
tice. That  which  is  natural,  needful  and  good  for  some 
would  utterly  distract  the  attention  of  others.  Take  a 
man  from  the  most  ignorant  rural  region,  utterly  un- 
used to  such  things,  and  place  him  in  this  house  next 
Sunday  morning,  and  his  attention  would  be  utterly 
distracted  by  the  architectural  beauties  of  the  place  and 
the  strange  power  of  the  music,  and  he  would  be 
scarcely  able  to  have  any  other  thought.  These  things 
would  be  hurtful  to  him ;  but  to  those  who  have  been 
used  to  them  and  who,  in  their  own  houses,  have  been 
accustomed  to  elegance  and  beauty,  or  in  the  homes  of 
others  they  sometimes  enter,  or  in  the  great  places  of 
public  assembly  in  the  cities  where  they  live,  these 
things  need  not  be  hurtful  to  them.  They  may  be 
helpful  to  them.  Ah,  my  friends,  tliey  need  to  be  used 
by  us  all  with  caution  and  with  earnest  efforts  to  make 
them  helpful  to  devotion,  or  they  will  drag  down  our 
attention  to  themselves.  Often  it  is  so.  You  go  home 
with  your  children,  talking  only  about  the  beauty  of 
your  house  of  worship  or  the  beauty  of  the  music,  and 
how  soon  your  children  will  come  to  think  and  feel  that 
that  is  all  there  is  to  come  to  church  for,  and  how  many 
there  are  who  do  thus  think  and  feel. 
2 


18  WORSHIP. 

It  is  easy  to  talk  nonsense  on  the  subject  of  church 
music.  It  is  very  difficult  to  talk  wisely.  But  I  think 
we  sometimes  forget  in  our  time  that  there  is  a  distinc- 
tion between  secular  and  sacred  music.  I  have  seen 
places  where  they  did  not  seem  to  know  thei'e  was  such 
a  distinction.  They  seem  to  have  obliterated  it  by 
using  so  much  purely  secular  music  in  sacred  worship. 
It  is  a  distinction  not  easy  to  define,  I  know,  but  easy 
enough  to  comprehend  on  the  part  of  one  who  is  culti- 
vated and  has  an  ear  for  music  and  a  heart  for  devo- 
tion. It  is  a  distinction  that  ought  always  to  be 
heedfully  regarded.  Our  beautiful  church  music  I  de- 
light in.  I  have  sat  here  this  afternoon  and  evening, 
and  it  has  done  me  good  to  listen  to  it;  but  we  must 
learn  to  use  it  as  a  help  to  devotion,  or  else  we  are  using 
it  wrong,  and  it  will  do  us  harm.  We  must  not  only 
cultivate  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  artistic  music  for  the 
sake  of  enjoyment,  but  what  is  far  more  than  enjoy- 
ment, we  must  cultivate  the  power  of  making  it  a  help 
to  religious  worship.  We  must  learn  to  do  that,  or  wo 
must  refuse  to  have  it.  There  is  danger  here.  My 
friends,  you  should  rejoice  in  the  high  privileges  of  cul- 
tivated society  and  refined  homes,  beautiful  places  of 
worship,  glorious  sounds  of  music  and  a  lofty  style  of 
eloquence;  but  there  is  danger  for  you.  I  have  heard 
people  say  sometimes:  ^' I  don't  believe  in  the  religion 
of  the  negroes.  I  go  to  the  place  of  worship  of  the  ne- 
groes, and  I  find  they  ^vork  themselves  into  a  mere 
animal  excitement.  They  sway  their  bodies,  and  parade 
around  the  room,  and  shake  hands,  and  shout,  and  em- 
brace each  other,  and  work  up  mere  animal  excitement; 


WORSHIP.  19 

but  there  is  no  religion  in  that.''  Oh,  you  child  of  cul- 
ture !  Go  to  your  beautiful  place  of  worship,  with  its 
dim,  religious  light,  its  pealing  organ,  its  highly  culti- 
vated gentleman,  trained  in  elegant  literature  to  speak 
in  a  beautiful  style,  as  he  ought  to  do,  and  you  may 
have  excited  in  you  a  mere  aesthetic  sentiment  which 
may  have  no  more  real  worship  in  it  than  the  poor 
negro's  animal  excitement.  But,  thank  God!  they 
sometimes  really  have  a  genuine  religion  about  it,  as 
genuine  as  yours. 

There  is  danger  there,  but  my  friends  there  is  always 
danger,  and  we  must  learn  to  discard  that  which  we  can- 
not subordinate  to  spiritual  worship,  learn  to  use  heed- 
fully,  with  constant  effort  for  ourselves  and  for  our 
families  and  for  our  friends  to  use  that  which  it  is  right 
to  use,  that  it  may  help  and  not  hinder.  I  pray  you, 
then,  do  not  go  to  asking  people  to  come  just  to  see  your 
beautiful  house  of  worship  or  to  listen  to  your  noble 
music.  Some  will  come  for  that  reason  alone,  and  you 
cannot  help  it.  But  do  not  encourage  such  a  thought. 
Talk  about  worship.  Talk  about  these  externals  as 
helps  to  the  solemn  worship  of  God.  Try  to  take  that 
view  of  it.  Try  to  make  other  people  take  that  view  of 
it.  Be  afraid  for  yourselves,  and  try  to  speak  of  it  for 
its  own  sake  and  not  for  the  sake  of  the  aesthetic  gratifi- 
cation it  may  give. 

And  now,  my  brethren,  can  you  listen  a  few  moments 
longer  to  some  closing  words  ?  Worship :  spiritual 
worship.  I  think  that  in  most  of  our  churches — our 
churches  that  have  no  set  ritual,  no  fixed  form  of 
worship — there  is  a  disposition  to  underrate  the  import- 


20  WOESHIP. 

ance  of  public  worship ;  to  think  only  of  the  preaching. 
1  notice  that  in  those  churches,  not  only  our  own,  but 
those  like  it  that  have  no  special  form  of  worship,  they 
always  give  notice  for  preaching  and  not  for  Avorship, 
they  only  talk  about  the  preacher  and  not  the  worship. 
They  seerQ  to  think  it  makes  little  difference  if  they  are 
too  late  for  worship,  provided  they  are  there  in  time  for 
the  sermon.  I  notice  that  many  preachers  seem  to  give 
their  whole  thought  to  their  sermon,  and  think  nothing 
of  preparing  themselves  for  that  high  task,  that  solemn, 
responsible  undertaking,  to  try  to  lift  up  the  hearts  of  a 
great  assembly  in  prayer  to  God.  What  I  wish  to  say 
is,  wherever  that  may  be  true,  let  lis  consider  whether  we 
ought  not  to  take  more  interest  in  our  worship,  in  the 
reading  of  God's  word  for  devotional  impression,  in 
solemn,  sacred  song  and  in  humble  prayer  to  God,  in 
which  we  wish  the  hearts  of  the  whole  assembly  to  rise 
and  melt  together.  It  is  true  that  we  must  have  a  care 
how  we  cultivate  variety  here,  for  the  hearts  of  men 
seem  to  take  delight  in  something  of  routine  in  their 
worship  ;  they  are  rested  if  they  know  what  comes  next ; 
they  are  harassed  often  if  they  are  frequently  dis- 
appointed and  something  quite  unexpected  comes  in. 
We  must  keep  our  variety  within  limits,  but  within 
limits  we  must  cultivate  variety.  I  believe  there  should 
be  more  attention  paid  to  making  our  worship  varied  in 
its  interest  than  is  usually  the  case ;  and  then,  oh,  my 
brethren,  something  far  more  important  for  the  preacher 
and  people  is  this — we  must  put  heart  into  our  worship. 
We  must  not  care  merely  to  hear  a  man  preach.  I  do 
not  wish  you  to  think  less  of  preaching,  but  more  of  the 


WORSHIP.  21 

other.  We  must  put  heart  into  our  worship.  Even  the 
sermon  is  a  two-sided  thing — one  side  of  it  is  part  of  our 
worship  so  far  as  it  causes  devotional  feeling  and  lifts 
up  the  heart  towards  God,  though  on  its  other  side  of  in- 
struction and  exhortation  it  is  distinct  from  worship. 

Now,  I  say  we  must  put  heart  in  our  worship.  Do 
not  venture  to  come  to  this  beautiful  place  of  worship,  or 
whatever  place  of  worship  you  attend,  and  just  sit 
languidly  down  to  see  if  the  choir  can  stir  you  or  to  see 
if  the  preacher  can  stir  you.  Oh  !  stir  up  your  own  souls. 
It  is  your  solemn  duty  when  you  go  to  engage  with  others 
in  the  worship  of  God — it  is  your  duty  to  yourself,  it  is 
your  duty  to  others,  it  is  your  duty  to  the  pastor  who 
wishes  to  lead  your  worship,  it  is  your  duty  to  God,  who 
wants  the  hearts  of  men,  and  who  will  have  nothing  but 
their  hearts.  I  know  how  we  feel.  Worn  by  a  week's 
toil,  languid  on  the  Lord's  day  through  lack  of  our 
customary  excitement,  we  go  and  take  our  places,  jaded 
and  dull,  and  we  are  tempted  to  think,  "  Now  I  will  see 
whether  the  services  can  make  any  impression  on  me ; 
whether  the  preacher  can  get  hold  of  me — I  hope  they 
may,''  and  we  sit  passive  to  wait  and  see.  Oh,  let  us  not 
dare  thus  to  deal  with  the  solemnity  of  the  worship  of 
God. 

My  brethren,  if  we  learn  to  worship  aright,  there  will 
be  beautiful  and  blessed  consequences.  It  will  bring  far 
more  of  good  to  our  own  souls.  It  will  make  worship 
far  more  impressive  to  our  children.  Haven't  you  ob- 
served that  it  is  getting  to  be  one  of  the  questions  of  our 
day  how  the  Sunday-school  children  are  to  be  drawn  to 
our  public  worship?  We  are  often  told  that  the  preacher 


22  WORSHIP. 

must  try  to  make  his  sermon  more  attractive  to  chil- 
dren, and  so  he  must.  But  let  us  also  make  our  worship 
more  impressive,  and  make  our  children  feel  that  it  is 
their  duty  to  worship  God,  and  try  to  bring  them  under 
the  influence  of  this  worship.  I  heard  last  week  in 
Washington  one  of  the  foremost  Sunday-school  laborers 
of  this  country,  a  Methodist  minister,  make  this  state- 
ment in  private.  He  said  :  ^'  Of  late  I  have  been  telling 
the  people  everywhere,  if  your  children  cannot  do  both, 
cannot  go  to  Sunday-school  and  go  to  the  public  worship 
also,  keep  them  away  from  the  Sunday-school,  for  they 
must  go  to  the  public  worship."  You  may  call  that  an 
extravagant  statement.  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  ex- 
travagant, but  I  am  sure  of  this,  that  we  need  not 
merely  to  try  to  make  our  preaching  attract  children, 
but  to  try  to  make  the  worship  so  solemn,  so  real,  so 
genuine,  so  earnest,  that  those  strange  little  earnest 
hearts  of  our  children  will  feel  that  there  is  something: 
there  that  strikes  to  their  souls. 

And  if  you  have  true,  fervent  worship  of  God,  the 
stranger  that  comes  into  your  place  of  worship  will  feel 
it  too.  Have  you  not  noticed  when  you  go  into  some 
houses  how  quickly  you  perceive  that  you  are  in  an  at- 
mosphere of  hospitality  and  genuine  kindness  ?  There 
may  be  no  parade,  no  speech-making.  Yet  in  some 
places  you  may  feel  it,  you  feel  it  in  the  atmosphere, 
you  feel  it  at  once  in  your  soul ;  you  see  a  place  where 
they  are  kindly  and  loving.  So  it  ought  to  be,  that 
when  a  man  comes  into  your  place  of  worship  he  shall 
very  soon  feel  a  something  that  pervades  the  atmosphere 
he  breathes,  from  the  look  of  the  people,  from  the  solemn 


WOESHIP.  23 

stillness,  from  the  unaffected  earnestness  he  shall  feel 
that  these  people  are  genuine,  solemn  worshippers  of 
God.  When  he  feels  that,  he  will  conclude  that  God  is 
with  you  of  a  truth  and  there  will  be  power  to  move 
his  soul  in  your  solemn  worship. 

Now,  my  brethren,  in  this  beautiful  house  which  you 
have  built  for  the  worship  of  God,  and  are  now  dedi- 
cating to  His  worship,  oh,  may  there  be  much  of  real 
spiritual  worship.  When  your  hearts  are  full  sometimes 
and  you  come  and  try  to  throw  your  souls  into  God's 
worship,  may  you  be  moved  and  melted ;  when  you  are 
sorely  tempted  sometimes  and,  coming  to  the  house  of 
God,  try  to  lift  your  heart  to  Him  in  prayer,  may  you 
get  good  from  the  wise  and  loving  words  of  the  man 
you  love  to  see  stand  before  you  as  your  pastor. 

As  your  children  grow  up  by  your  side  and  learn  to 
delight  with  you  in  coming  to  the  house  of  God  in  com- 
pany, oh,  may  you  be  permitted  to  see  more  and  more  of 
them  gladly  coming  to  tell  what  great  things  God  has 
done  for  their  souls,  and  gladly  coming  to  put  on  Christ 
by  baptism.  And  not  only  the  children  of  your  house- 
holds, biit  strangers  within  j^our  gates.  How  soon  they 
will  be  pouring  into  this  great  city  from  the  far  East  and 
the  wonderful  West,  from  all  the  North  and  all  the 
South,  and  from  beyond  the  sea  !  How  they  will,  in 
these  coming  years,  pour  into  this  imperial,  central  city, 
with  its  vast  possibilities  that  swell  the  souls  of  your 
business  men,  and  that  ought  to  swell  the  souls  of  your 
religious  men.  May  the  stranger  within  your  gates 
learn  here  to  love  your  Saviour  and  rejoice  here  to  pro- 
claim that  love,  and  rise  from  the  liquid  grave  to  walk 


24  WORSHIP. 

in  newness  of  life.  And  again  and  again,  as  you 
gather  for  that  simplest  of  all  ceremonies,  as  it  is  the 
most  solemn,  which  Jesus  himself  appointed,  in  all  sim- 
plicity taking  bread  and  wine  in  remembrance  of  him, 
may  he  who  sees  men^s  hearts,  see  always  that  your 
hearts  are  towards  him  in  godly  sincerity.  And  when 
oiferings  are  asked  here  may  they  be  offerings  given  as  a 
part  of  the  worship  of  God,  offerings  that  come  from 
your  hearts,  offerings  that  are  accepted  by  him  who 
wants  the  heart,  offerings  that  are  worthy  of  this  beauti- 
ful home  of  your  church  life,  and  worthy  to  follow  the 
gifts  wherewith  you  have  erected  it.  And  time  and 
again  may  there  go  forth  those  Avho  have  learned  to  wor- 
ship here  like  successive  swarms  from  fruitful  hives  to 
carry  the  same  spirit  of  worship  elsewhere,  here  and 
there,  in  great  and  growing  and  needy  cities. 

Yes,  and  when  the  young  of  your  households  begin 
to  link  those  households  more  closely  than  ever  together, 
and  on  the  bright  bridal  day  the  brilliant  procession 
comes  sweeping  up  the  aisle  and  all  men's  hearts  are  glad ; 
may  they  always  come  reverently  in  the  fear  of  the  God 
they  have  here  learned  to  worship.  And  O,  mortal 
men  and  women,  who  have  united  to  build  high  and 
glorious  piles  that  will  stand  when  you  are  gone,  when 
in  the  hour  of  your  departure  from  the  works  of  your 
hands,  and  from  the  worship  that  you  have  loved  on 
earth,  and  slow  and  solemn  up  the  aisle  they  bear  the 
casket  that  holds  all  that  is  left  to  earth  of  you,  and  be- 
hind come  sad-faced  men  and  sobbing  women,  and  while 
the  solemn  music  sounds  through  all  these  vaults  and 
your  pastor  rises,  struggling  to  control  his  own  sorrow 


WORSHIP.  25 

for  the  death  of  one  he  loved  so  well — O,  may  it  be 
true,  in  that  hour  which  is  coming — may  you  begin  from 
this  night  so  to  live  that  it  shall  then  be  true,  that  the 
mourners  of  that  hour  may  sorrow  here,  not  as  those  who 
have  no  hope,  and  that  the  men  and  women  who  honor 
you,  and  have  gathered  to  pay  honor  to  your  memory, 
may  feel  like  saying  in  simple  sincerity  as  they  look 
upon  your  coffin,  "  the  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed  ;  let 
me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous  and  let  my  last  end  be 
like  his.'^  O  begin  to-day,  God  help  you  to  begin  from 
this  hour  of  entrance  into  your  new  place  of  worship  so 
to  live  that  all  this  may  be  true  when  you  pass  away. 

But  one  more  thought.  There  will  never  be  any  per- 
fect worship  in  this  house.  When  was  there  ever  any 
13erfect  worship  ?  Once  there  was.  There  was  a  little 
obscure  village  ;  the  military  history  of  the  country  does 
not  mention  it ;  the  older  sacred  writings  do  not.  It 
was  a  despised  village,  and  there  was  a  lowly  mechanic, 
who  spent  his  early  life  in  that  village  quietly,  unpre- 
tending and  unnoticed,  and  who  used  to  go  on  the  Sab- 
bath day  to  the  synagogue.  He  paid  perfect  worship. 
Oh,  glorious,  beautiful  spectacle  !  He  paid  perfect  wor- 
ship, but  since  his  day  there  has  never  been  any  perfect 
worship  in  this  world.  Shall  there  be  any  perfect  wor- 
ship for  us  then,  dear  hearers,  who  sometimes  aspire  to- 
wards God  and  long  to  worship  him  in  true  spirituality, 
but  never  find  the  full  attainment  ?  God  be  thanked,  we 
have  hope  of  that  higher  and  better  life  where  we  shall 
worship  without  effi)rt  and  without  imperfection.  And 
God  help  us  that  we  may  strive  to  worship  here  with  all 
our  hearts,  in  the  hope  that  at  last  we  shall  worship 
perfectly  there. 


II. 


SOME  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL  WORK* 

But  he  said  unto  them,  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not.  The 
disciples  therefore  said  one  to  another.  Hath  any  man  brought  him, 
aught  to  eat  ?  Je^us  saith  unto  them,  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him 
that  sent  me,  and  to  accomplish  his  work.  Say  not  ye,  There  are  yet 
four  months,  and  then  comtth  the  harvest  f  Behold,  I  say  unto  you, 
Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields,  that  they  are  white  already 
unto  harvest.  He  that  reapeth  receiveth  wages,  and  gathereth  fruit 
unto  life  eternal ;  that  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth  may  rejoice 
together.  For  herein  is  the  saying  true.  One  soweth,  and  another  reap- 
eth. I  sent  you  to  reap  that  whereon  ye  have  not  labored  :  others  have 
labored,  and  ye  are  entered  into  their  labor. — John  iv.  32-38. 

rPHE  disciples  must  have  been  very  much  astonished 
-*-  at  the  change  which  they  observed  in  the  Master's 
appearance.  They  left  him,  when  they  went  away  to 
a  neighboring  city  to  buy  food,  reclining  beside  Jacob's 
well,  quite  worn  out  with  the  fatigue  of  their  journey, 
following  upon  the  fatigues  of  long  spiritual  labors. 
And  here  now  he  is  sitting  up,  his  face  is  animated, 
his  eyes  kindled.  He  has  been  at  work  again.  Pres- 
ently they  ask  him  to  partake  of  the  food  which  they 
had  brought,  and  his  answer  surprised  them :  "  I  have 
food  to  eat  that  ye  know  not."  They  looked  around, 
and  saw  nobody;  the  woman  to  whom  he  had  been 
speaking  was  gone,  and  they  said :  "  Has  any  one 
brought  him  something  to  eat?''  Jesus  answered: 
"My  food  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  and 

*  Washington  Avenue  Baptist  Cliurch,  Brooklyn,  1884. 

26 


SOME    LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL    WORK.  27 

to  accomplish  his  work/'  And  then,  with  this  thought 
of  work,  he  changes  the  image  to  sowing  and  reaping, 
and  bids  them  go  forth  to  the  harvest. 

Now,  from  this  passage  with  its  images,  I  have 
wished  to  discourse  upon  some  laws  of  spiritual  work, 
as  here  set  forth.  For  we  are  beginning  to  see,  in  our 
time,  that  there  are  laws  in  the  spiritual  sphere  as  truly 
as  in  the  mental  and  in  the  physical  spheres.  AVhaf 
are  the  laws  of  spiritual  work  which  the  Saviour  here 
indicates?     I  name  four: 

I.  Spiritual  work  is  refreshing  to  soul  and  body. 
"My  food  is,"  said  the  tired,  hungry  one,  who  had 
aroused  himself,  "  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me, 
and  to  accomplish  his  work/'  We  all  know  the  power 
of  the  body  over  the  mind,  and  we  all  know,  I  trust, 
the  power  of  the  mind  over  the  body ;  how  any  anima- 
tino;  theme  can  kindle  the  mind  until  the  wearied  body 
will  be  stirred  to  new  activities ;  until  the  man  will  for- 
get that  he  was  tired,  because  of  that  in  which  he  is 
interested.  But  it  must  be  something  that  does  deeply 
interest  the  mind.  And  so  there  is  suggested  to  us  the 
thought  that  we  ought  to  learn  to  love  spiritual  work. 
If  we  love  spiritual  work  it  will  kindle  our  souls ;  it 
will. even  give  health  and  vigor  to  our  bodies.  There 
are  some  well-meaning,  but  good-for-nothing,  professed 
Christians  in  our  time,  who  would  have  better  health  of 
mind  and  even  better  health  of  body,  if  they  would  do 
more  religious  work  and  be  good  for  something  in  their 
day  and  generation. 

How  shall  we  learn  to  love  religious  work  so  that  it 
may  kindle  and  refresh  us?     Old  Daniel  Sharp,  who 


28  SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIKITUAL   WORK. 

was  a  famous  Baptist  minister  in  Boston  years  ago,  used 
to  be  very  fond  of  repeating,  ^'  The  only  way  to  learn 
to  preach  is  to  preach/^  Certainly,  the  only  way  to 
learn  to  do  anything  is  to  do  the  thing.  The  only  way 
to  learn  to  do  spiritual  work  is  to  do  spiritual  work,  the 
only  way  to  learn  to  love  spiritual  work  is  to  keep  doing 
it  until  we  gain  pleasure  from  the  doing ;  until  we  dis- 
cern rewards  in  connection  with  the  doing  ;  and  to  cher- 
ish all  the  sentiments  which  will  awaken  in  us  that 
*^  enthusiasm  of  humanity  '^  which  it  was  Jesus  that  in- 
troduced among  men  ;  and  to  love  the  souls  of  our 
fellow-men,  to  love  the  wandering,  misguided  lives,  to 
love  the  suffering  and  sinning  all  around  us  with  such 
an  impassioned  love  that  it  shall  be  a  delight  to  us  to  do 
them  good  and  to  try  to  save  them  from  death.  Then 
that  will  refresh  both  mind  and  body. 

II.  There  are  seasons  in  the  spiritual  sphere — sowing 
seasons  and  reaping  seasons,  just  as  there  are  in  farming. 
"  Say  not  ye,''  said  Jesus,  "  there  are  yet  four  months 
and  then  cometh  the  harvest  ?  ^' — that  is  to  say,  it  was 
four  months  from  that  time  till  the  harvest.  They 
sowed  their  wheat  in  December ;  they  began  to  reap  it 
in  April.  ^'  Say  not  ye,  there  are  four  months,  and  then 
cometh  the  harvest?  behold,  I  say  unto  you,  lift  up 
your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields  ;  for  they  are  white 
already  to  harvest.'^  In  the  spiritual  sphere  it  was  a 
harvest  time  then,  and  they  were  bidden  to  go  forth  and 
reap  the  harvest  that  waved  white  and  perishing.  We 
can  see,  as  we  look  back,  that  the  ends  of  all  the  ages 
had  now  come  to  that  time  :  that  the  lona:  course  of 
providential   preparation,  dimly   outlined   in   the  Old 


SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK.  29 

Testament,  had  led  to  the  state  of  things  that  then  pre- 
vailed ;  that  the  fulness  of  the  times  had  come,  when 
God  sent  forth  his  Son  to  teach  men  and  to  atone  for 
men,  and  to  rise  again  and  come  forth  as  their  Saviour, 
and  that  his  servants  should  go  forth  in  his  name. 
And  the  like  has  been  true  in  many  other  seasons  of 
Christianity  ;  there  have  been  great  reaping  times,  when 
men  have  harvested  the  fruits  which  come  from  the  seed 
scattered  by  others  long  before. 

I  persuade  myself  that  such  a  time  will  be  seen  ere 
long  in  the  world  again.  I  think  that  the  young  who 
are  here  present  to-day — though  they  may  forget  the 
preacher  and  his  prediction — will  live  to  see  the  time 
when  there  will  be  a  great  season  of  harvest  that  will 
astonish  mankind.  In  the  great  heathen  world  I  think 
it  will  be  true  that  the  labors  of  our  missionaries  are 
preparing  the  way,  and  that  in  the  course  of  divine 
providence — the  same  providence  that  overruled  the 
history  of  Egypt  and  Assyria  and  Greece  and  Rome — 
the  greatest  nations  of  Asia  are  now  becoming  rapidly 
prepared  to  receive  a  new  faith.  They  say,  who  live 
there  and  ought  to  know,  that  there  is  a  wonderful 
breaking  up  of  religious  opinion  in  all  Hindostan,  with 
its  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  people — five  times 
as  many,  almost,  as  in  our  great  country — that  they  are 
learning  to  let  go  their  old  faiths,  and  that  the  time 
must  soon  come  when,  in  sheer  bewilderment  and  blind- 
ness, as  it  were,  men  will  search  round  for  something 
else  to  look  upon,  something  else  to  lay  hold  upon.  It 
is  a  sad  thing  to  see  great  nations  of  mankind  surren- 
dered to  utter  unbelief,  but  it  has  often  proven  the  prep- 


30  SOME    I>AVrS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK. 

aration  for  their  accepting  a  true  and  mighty  and 
blessed  faith.  I  think  one  can  see,  in  the  marvellous 
changes  which  are  going  on  in  Japan,  a  preparation  for 
like  effects  there;  and  as  Japan  is,  for  the  civilized 
world,  the  gateway  into  China,  and  our  missionaries  are 
already  at  work  there  and  great  changes  are  taking 
place  there,  so  it  is  quite  possible  that  even  in  one  or 
two  generations  there  will  be  a  wide  spread  of  Christian- 
ity in  that  wonderful  nation  of  mankind.  God  grant 
that  it  may  be  so  ! 

I  think  the  same  thing  is  going  to  happen  in  our  own 
country.  We  have  been  living  in  a  time  of  eclipse,  so 
to  speak,  of  late  years,  but  I  think  another  reaction  will 
come.  Some  of  us  can  remember  that  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago  there  was  almost  no  avowed  infidelity  in  this 
country.  There  was  not  a  publisher  in  New  York,  who 
had  any  respect  for  himself  and  any  large  hope  of  suc- 
cess, that  would  have  had  a  book  with  one  page  <  f 
avowed  unbelief  in  it  on  his  shelves.  How  different  it 
is  now  ! 

We  have  been  passing,  as  I  said,  through  a  reaction. 
In  the  early  part  of  this  century  our  whole  country  was 
honeycombed  with  infidelity.  It  was  ten  times  worse 
than  it  is  to-day.  But  in  1825,  1830,  1840,  1850,  there 
were  wide  spread  changes,  revivals ;  and  a  great  many 
men  were  brought  into  our  churches  who  had  not  the 
root  of  the  matter  in  them,  and  a  lax  discipline  and  a 
low  state  of  religious  living  became,  alas  !  too  common, 
and  we  have  been  reaping  the  bitter  fruits.  Alas !  how 
often  it  has  happened  that  some  man  has  become 
notorious  in  the  newspapers  as  a  defaulter,  or  a  criminal 


SOME    LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL    WORK.  31 

in  some  other  way,  and  we  have  been  compelled  to  read 
the  added  statement,  that  he  was  a  member  of  such  and 
such  a  church,  was  a  Sunday-school  superintendent, 
teacher,  or  what  not.  How  often  it  has  happened  ! 
This  has  been  one  of  many  causes — I  cannot  stop  now 
to  analyze  and  point  out,  but  they  can  be  analyzed  and 
pointed  out — of  such  widespread  unbelief  of  lato  years. 
But  it  cannot  last.  There  never  was  such  activity  in  the 
Christian  world ;  and  if  our  earnest  Christian  people 
stand  firm,  if  they  practice  in  all  directions  that  earnest- 
ness of  Christian  purpose,  if  they  try  to  maintain  the 
truth  of  the  gospel  and  live  up  to  it  in  their  own  lives, 
and  lift  up  their  prayer  to  God  for  his  blessing,  there 
will  come  another  great  sweeping  reaction.  It  is  as  sure 
to  come  as  there  is  logic  in  history  or  in  human  nature. 
It  is  as  sure  to  come  as  there  is  truth  in  the  promises  of 
God's  word.  O,  may  many  of  you  live  to  see  that  day 
and  rejoice  at  its  coming  ! 

The  same  thing  is  true  in  individual  churches,  that 
there  are  seasons  of  sowing  and  reaping.  It  has  to  be 
so.  We  sometimes  say  we  do  not  believe  in  the  revival 
idea;  we  think  there  ought  to  be  revival  in  the  church 
all  the  time.  If  you  mean  that  we  ought  always  to  be 
seeking  for  spiritual  fruits,  always  aiming  at  spiritual 
advancement,  it  is  true.  But  if  you  mean  that  you  ex- 
pect that  piety  will  go  on  with  even  current  in  the 
church,  that  there  will  be  just  as  much  sowing  and  reap- 
ing at  any  one  time  as  at  any  other,  then  you  will 
certainly  be  disappointed.  That  is  not  the  law  of  human 
nature.  That  is  not  posssible  in  the  world.  Periodicity 
pervades  the  universe.     Periodicity  controls  the  life  of 


32  SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK. 

all  individuals,  shows  itself  in  the  operations  of  onr 
minds.  Periodicity  necessarily  appears  in  the  spiritual 
sphere  also.  People  have  their  ups  and  downs.  They 
ought  to  strive  against  falling  low.  They  ought  not  to 
be  content  with  growing  cold.  They  ought  to  seek  to 
maintain  good  health  of  body  all  the  while,  but  it  will 
not  be  always  equally  good  ;  and  good  health  of  mind 
and  soul  all  the  time,  but  it  will  not  be  always  equally 
good.  They  ought  to  be  seeking  to  reap  a  harvest 
of  spiritual  good  among  those  around  them  all  the  while; 
but  they  will  have  seasons  which  are  rather  of  sowing, 
and  other  seasons  which  will  be  rather  of  reaping.  O  ! 
do  you  want  to  see  a  great  season  of  harvest  among 
your  own  congregation?  And  do  you  not  know, 
brethren,  as  well  as  the  preacher  can  tell  you,  what  is 
necessary  in  order  that  you  may  see  it  ?  What  are  the 
conditions  but  deepened  spiritual  life  in  your  own  indi- 
vidual souls,  stronger  spiritual  examples  set  forth  in 
your  lives,  more  earnest  spirituality  in  your  homes,  a 
truer  standard  in  your  business  and  social  relations  to 
mankind,  more  of  heartfelt  prayer  for  God's  blessing, 
and  more  untiring  and  patient  and  persevering  eftbrt, 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  to  bring  others  to  seek 
their  salvation? 

III.  Spiritual  work  liiiks  the  workers  in  unity. 
"Herein  is  the  saying  true,''  said  Jesus;  "one  soweth, 
and  another  reapeth.  Other  men  have  labored,  and  ye 
are  entered  into  their  labors."  The  prophets,  centuries 
before,  had  been  preparing  for  that  day,  and  the  fore- 
runner had  been  preparing  for  that  day,  and  the  labors 
of  Jesus  himself  in  his  early   ministry   had   been  pre- 


SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK.  33 

paring  the  way,  and  now  the  disciples  could  look 
around  them  upon  fields  where,  from  the  sowing  of 
others,  there  were  opportunities  for  them  to  reap. 
'*  Other  men  have  labored,  and  ye  are  entered  into 
their  labors.  One  soweth,  and  another  reapeth.''  That 
is  the  law  everywhere ;  it  is  true  of  all  the  higher  work 
of  humanity, — "One  soweth,  and  another  reapeth;''  and 
our  labors  link  us  into  unity.  It  is  true  of  human 
knowledge.  How  little  has  any  one  individual  of 
mankind  been  able  to  find  out  beyond  what  the  world 
has  known  before !  Even  the  great  minds  that  stand 
like  mountain  peaks  as  we  look  back  over  the  history 
of  human  thought,  when  we  come  to  look  into  it,  do 
really  but  uplift  the  thought  that  is  all  around  them; 
else  they  themselves  could  not  have  risen.  It  is  true 
in  practical  inventions.  We  pride  ourselves  on  the  fact 
that  ours  is  an  age  of  such  wonderful  practical  inven- 
tions ;  we  sometimes  persuade  ourselves  that  we  must 
be  the  most  intelligent  generation  of  mankind  that  ever 
lived,  past  all  comparison ;  that  no  other  race,  no  other 
century,  has  such  wonderful  things  to  boast  of.  How 
much  of  it  do  we  owe  to  the  men  of  the  past !  Every 
practical  invention  of  to-day  has  been  rendered  possible 
by  what  seemed  to  us  the  feeble  attainments  of  other 
centuries,  by  the  patient  investigation  of  the  men  who, 
in  many  cases,  have  passed  away  and  been  forgotten. 
We  stand  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  past,  and  rejoice  in 
our  possessions,  and  boast;  and  when  we  grow  con- 
ceited and  proud  of  it,  we  are  like  a  little  boy  lifted  by 
his  father's  supporting  arms,  and  standing  on  his 
father's  shoulders,  and  clapping  his  hands  above  his 
3 


34  SOME   LAWS   OF  SPIRITUAL   WORE:. 

father's  head,  and  saying,  in  childish  glee,  "  I  am  taller 
than  papaT'  A  childish  conclusion,  to  be  sure.  We 
stand  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  past,  and  thereby  v/e 
are  lifted  up  in  all  the  higher  work  of  mankind  ;  and 
we  ought  to  be  grateful  to  the  past,  and  mindful  of  our 
duty  to  the  future;  for  the  time  will  come  when  men 
will  look  back  upon  our  inventions,  our  slow  travel, 
our  wonderful  ignorance  of  the  power  of  physical  forces 
and  the  adaptations  of  them  to  physical  advancement, 
and  smile  at  the  childishness  with  which,  in  the  fag  end 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  we  boasted  of  ourselves  and 
our  time. 

And  now  it  is  not  strange  that  this  same  thing  should 
be  true  of  spiritual  work.  When  you  undertake  to  do 
some  good  in  a  great  city  like  this,  you  might  sit  down 
and  say,  "  What  can  I  do  with  all  this  mass  of  vice  and 
sin?"  But  you  do  not  have  to  work  alone.  You  can 
associate  yourselves  with  other  workers,  in  a  church,  with 
various  organizations  of  workers,  and  thereby  re-enforce 
your  own  exertions ;  you  can  feel  that  you  are  a  working 
force,  and  you  can  feel  that  you  are  a  part  of  a  mighty 
force  of  workers,  of  your  own  name  and  other  Christian 
names.  Grace  be  with  all  them  that  love  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  and  are  trying  to  do  good  in  his 
name !  And  it  will  cheer  our  hearts  to  remember  that 
wide  over  the  land  and  over  the  world  are  unnumbered 
millions  of  workers  of  the  army  to  which  we  belong. 
They  tell  us  that  the  International  Sunday-school  les- 
sons which  most  of  us  study  every  Sunday,  are  actually 
studied  now  every  Lord's  day  by  at  least  ten  millions 
of  people,  all  studying  on  the  same  day  the  same  por- 


SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK.  35 

tion  of  the  Bible.  That  is  but  one  fact  to  remind  us 
that  we  are  members  of  a  great  spiritual  host,  doing  a 
great  work  in  the  world. 

And  not  merely  are  there  many  cotemporaries  with 
whom  we  are  linked  in  unity,  but  we  are  in  unity  with 
the  past;  other  men  have  labored  and  we  have  entered 
into  their  labors.  All  the  good  that  all  the  devout 
women  and  all  the  zealous  men  of  past  ages  have  been 
doing  has  come  down  to  us,  opening  the  way  for  us  to 
do  good.  And  not  merely  with  the  past,  but  we  are 
linked  with  the  laborers  of  the  future.  They  may  hear 
our  names  or  they  may  hear  them  not.  We  may  perish 
from  all  memory  of  mankind,  but  our  work  will  not 
perish,  for  he  that  doeth  the  wdll  of  God  abideth  for- 
ever, and  if  we  are  engaged  in  his  work,  we  link  our- 
selves to  his  permanency  and  his  almightiness,  and  our 
work  will  go  down  to  help  the  men  who  are  to  come 
after. 

The  same  thing  is  true  here,  also,  in  the  individual 
church  ;  one  sowcth  and  another  reapeth.  A  pastor 
seldom  gathers  half  as  much  fruit  from  the  seed  of  his 
own  sowing  as  he  gathers  from  the  seed  that  others  have 
sown.  And  there  will  come  some  man  here — God  grant 
it  may  be  soon,  and  wisely,  and  well —who  will  gather 
seed  from  the  sowing  of  the  venei^able  pastor  so  well  and 
worthily  beloved  in  years  ago,  seed  from  the  sowing  of 
the  energetic  pastor  of  recent  years,  and  O  my  soul,  he 
may  gather  some  harvest,  even  from  the  seed  scattered 
in  the  brief  fleeting  interim  of  this  summer.  We  put  all 
our  work  together.  We  sink  our  work  in  the  one  great 
common  work.     We  scatter  seed  for  God  and  for  souls, 


36  SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK. 

and  we  leave  it  to  GocVs  own  care  and  blessing.     One 
soweth,  and  another  reapeth. 

My  brethren,  there  is  nothing  like  Christianity 
to  individualize  mankind.  It  was  Christianity  that 
taught  us  to  appreciate  the  individuality  of  men : 
"Every  man  must  give  account  of  himself  unto 
God/^  Men  were  no  longer  to  lose  themselves  in  the 
state,  as  classical  antiquity  taught  them  to  do,  but  to 
stand  out  in  their  separate  personality  and  individual 
responsibility  and  individual  rights  and  duties.  But  at 
the  same  time  much  of  what  we  can  do  that  is  best  in 
the  world  we  must  do  by  close  connection  and  interac- 
tion one  with  another.  Let  us  rejoice  to  act  through 
others.  Priscilla  and  Aquila!  what  a  power  they  were 
for  early  Christianity  when  they  took  that  eloquent 
young  Alexandrian  Apollos  and  taught  him  in  private 
the  way  of  God  more  perfectly !  Priscilla,  that  devout 
woman,  stood,  in  fact,  before  delighted  assemblies  in 
Corinth  and  spoke  to  them  the  perfect  way  of  God 
through  the  eloquent  man  whom  she  had  taught.  And 
how  often  does  the  Sunday-school  teacher,  who  labored 
long  and,  as  the  world  might  have  thought,  fruitlessly, 
with  her  little  naughty  boys  and  girls,  become  in  future 
times  a  great  power  for  good  in  the  world  through  one 
or  other  of  them  !  The  teacher  has  to  sink  himself  in 
his  pupils  :  never  mind  if  he  sinks  all  out  of  the  world's 
sight,  provided  he  can  make  his  mark  u]Dcn  them  and 
prepare  them  for  greater  usefulness,  can  put  into  them 
some  good  spirit,  and  send  them  forth  to  do  the  work 
which  to  him  personally  is  denied.  Here  lies  the 
great   power    of  Christian    women.      There    is    much 


SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK.  37 

they  can  do  personally,  with  their  own  voice  and 
their  own  action,  but  there  is  more  they  can  do  by 
that  wondrous  influence  which  men  vainly  strive  to 
depict,  that  influence  over  son  and  brother  and  husband 
and  friend  whereby  all  the  strength  and  power  of  the 
man  is  softened  and  guided  and  sobered  and  made  wiser 
through  the  blessed  influence  of  the  woman.  God  be 
thanked  that  we  can  not  only  do  good  in  our  individual 
efforts,  but  we  can  do  good  through  others!  Let  us 
cultivate  this,  let  us  delight  in  this,  that  we  can  labor 
through  others.  Whenever  your  pastor  may  stand 
before  the  gathered  assembly  he  can  speak  with  more 
power  because  of  you,  if  you  do  your  duty  to  him  and 
through  him. 

May  I  mention  some  of  the  ways  in  which  we  may 
help  our  pastor  ?  I  speak  as  one  who  at  home  sits  for 
the  most  part,  a  private  member  of  the  church  in  the 
pew,  toiling  all  the  week,  and  often  unable  to  preach  on 
Sunday,  and  yet  as  one  whose  heart  is  all  in  sympathy 
with  the  pastor's  heart,  and  perhaps  a  little  better  able 
than  common  to  sympathize  with  both  sides.  We  can 
help  him  to  draw  a  congregation.  You  know  we 
always  say  now-a-days,  that  it  is  very  important  to  get 
a  man  who  can  draw  a  congregation.  So  it  is,  though  it 
is  very  important  to  consider  what  he  draws  them  there 
for,  and  what  he  does  with  them  after  he  gets  them 
there ;  and  sometimes  it  does  seem  to  me  that  it  would 
be  better  for  some  people  to  remain  not  drawn  than  to 
be  drawn  merely  to  hear  and  to  witness  that  which  does 
them  harm  rather  than  good.  But  we  do  want  a  man 
who  can  draw  a  congregation ;  and  we  can  help  our 


38  SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK. 

pastor  to  draw  a  congregation.  How  ?  Well,  by  taking 
care  that  we  are  always  drawn  ourselves,  by  occupying 
our  own  place,  sometimes  when  we  do  not  feel  like  it, 
on  Sunday  evening ;  because  it  is  our  duty  to  our  pas- 
tor, our  duty  to  the  congregation,  and  our  duty  to  the 
world.  And  we  can  do  something  to  bring  others.  I 
recall  a  story,  that  a  few  years  after  the  war  (which  is 
the  great  chronological  epoch  in  a  large  part  of  our 
country),  at  the  White  Sulphur  Springs,  in  Virginia, 
was  a  venerable  man  at  whom  all  the  people  looked 
with  profound  admiration,  whose  name  was  Robert  E. 
Lee.  He  was  a  devout  Episcopalian.  One  day  a  Pres- 
byterian minister  came  to  preach  in  the  ball-room, 
according  to  custom,  and  he  told  me  this  story.  He 
noticed  that  General  Lee,  who  was  a  very  particular 
man  about  all  the  proprieties  of  life,  came  in  late,  and 
he  thought  it  was  rather  strange.  He  learned  after- 
w^ards  that  the  General  had  waited  until  all  the  people 
who  were  likely  to  attend  the  service  had  entered  the 
room,  and  then  he  walked  very  quietly  around  in  the 
corridors  and  parlors,  and  out  under  the  trees,  and 
wherever  he  saw  a  man  or  two  standing  he  woukl  go  up 
and  say  gently  :  "  We  are  going  to  have  divine  service 
this  morning  in  the  ball-room;  won^t  you  come?^' 
And  they  all  went.  To  me  it  was  very  touching  that 
that  grand  old  man,  whose  name  was  known  all  over 
the  world  and  before  whom  all  the  people  wanted  to 
bow,  should  so  quietly  go  around,  and  for  a  minister  of 
another  denomination  also,  and  persuade  them  to  go. 
Should  not  we  take  means  to  help  our  pastor  to  draw  a 
congregation?     And  when  he  begins  to  preach,  cannot 


SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK.  39 

we  help  him  to  preach  ?  Demosthenes  is  reported  to 
have  said  (and  he  ought  to  have  known  something  about 
it),  that  eloquence  lies  as  much  in  the  ear  as  in  the 
tongue.  Everybody  who  can  speak  effectively  knows 
that  the  power  of  speaking  depends  very  largely  upon 
the  way  it  is  heard,  upon  the  sympathy  which  one  suc- 
ceeds in  gaining  from  those  he  addresses.  If  I  were 
asked  what  is  the  first  thing  in  effective  preaching,  I 
should  say,  sympathy ;  and  what  is  the  second  thing,  I 
should  say,  sympathy;  and  what  is  the  third  thing, 
sympathy.  We  should  give  our  pastor  sympathy  when 
he  preaches.  Sometimes  one  good  listener  can  make  a 
good  sermon  ;  but  ah  !  sometimes  one  listener  who  does 
not  care  much  about  the  gospel  can  put  the  sermon 
all  out  of  harmony.  The  soul  of  a  man  who  can  speak 
effectively  is  a  very  sensitive  soul,  easily  repelled  and 
chilled  by  what  is  unfavorable,  and  easily  helped  by  the 
manifestation  of  simple  and  unpretentious  sympathy. 

How  can  we  help  our  pastor?  We  can  help  him  by 
talking  about  what  he  says ;  not  talking  about  the  per- 
formance and  about  the  performer,  and  all  that,  which, 
if  it  is  appropriate  anywhere,  is  surely  all  inappropriate 
when  we  turn  away  from  the  solemn  worship  of  God, 
and  from  listening  to  sermons  intended  to  do  us  good — 
but  talking  about  the  thoughts  that  he  has  given  us,  re- 
calling them  sometimes  to  one  who  has  heard  them  like 
ourselves,  repeating  them  sometimes  to  some  one  who 
has  not  had  the  opportunity  of  hearing  them.  Thus 
may  we  multiply  whatever  good  thoughts  the  preacher 
is  able  to  present,  and  keep  them  alive  in  our  own 
minds  and  the  minds  of  fellow-Christians.     Will  you 


40  SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK. 

pardon  an  illustration  here,  even  if  it  be  a  personal  one? 
Last  year  in  a  city  in  Texas,  I  was  told  of  the  desire  on 
the  part  of  a  lady  for  conversation,  and  when  we  met 
by  arrangement  she  came  in  widow's  weeds,  with  a  little 
boy  of  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  and  began  to  tell  this 
story :  Her  husband  was  once  a  student  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia,  when  the  person  she  was  talking  to 
was  the  chaplain  there,  more  than  twenty-five  years  ago. 
He  was  of  a  Presbyterian  family  from  Alabama,  and 
said  he  never  got  acquainted  with  the  chaplain,  for  the 
students  were  numerous,  but  that  he  heard  the  preach- 
ing a  great  deal,  and  in  consequence  of  it,  by  God's 
blessing  upon  it,  he  was  led  to  take  hold  as  a  Christian, 
and  went  home  and  joined  the  church  of  his  parents. 
After  the  war  he  married  this  lady,  and  a  few  years  ago 
he  passed  away.  She  said  he  was  in  the  habit,  before 
she  knew  him,  she  learned,  of  talking  often  in  the 
family  about  things  he  used  to  hear  the  preacher  say  ; 
the  preacher's  words  had  gotten  to  be  household  words 
in  the  family.  And  then  when  they  were  married  he 
taught  some  of  them  to  her,  and  was  often  repeating 
things  he  used  to  hear  the  preacher  say.  Since  he  died 
she  had  been  teaching  them  to  the  little  boy — the 
preacher's  words.  The  heart  of  the  preacher  might  well 
melt  in  his  bosom  at  the  story.  To  think  that  your 
poor  words,  which  you  yourself  had  wholly  forgotten, 
which  you  could  never  have  imagined  had  vitality 
enough  for  that,  had  been  repeated  among  strangers, 
had  been  repeated  by  the  young  man  to  his  mother,  re- 
peated by  the  young  widow  to  the  child — your  poor 
words,  thus  mighty  because  they  were  God's  truth  you 


SOME   LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL  WORK.  41 

were  trying  to  speak  and  because  you  had  humbly 
sought  God's  blessing !  And  through  all  the  years  it 
went  on,  and  the  man  knew  not,  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  of  all  that  story.  Ah,  we  never 
know  when  we  are  doing  good.  Sometimes  we  may 
think  we  are  going  to  do  great  things,  and  so  far  as  can 
ever  be  ascertained,  we  do  nothing;  and  sometimes  when 
we  think  we  have  done  nothing,  yet,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  some  truth  has  been  lodged  in  a  mind  here  and 
there,  to  bear  fruit  after  many  days. 

How  can  we  help  our  pastor  ?  We  can  furnish  him 
illustrations.  Mr.  Spurgeon  tells  us  that  he  requests  his 
teachers,  and  his  wife,  and  various  other  friends  to  hunt 
up  illustrations  for  him.  He  asks  them,  whenever  they 
have  come  across  anything  in  reading  or  in  conversation 
that  strikes  them  as  good,  to  write  it  down  and  let  him 
have  it,  and  whenever  he  sees  a  fit  opportunity  he 
makes  a  point  of  it.  We  can  all  furnish  our  pastors 
with  illustrations.  In  that  very  way,  perhaps,  we  might 
give  a  preacher  many  things  that  would  be  useful  to 
him.  In  other  ways  we  can  all  do  so.  Ah,  when  the 
preacher  tells  how  it  ought  to  be,  if  you  can  sometimes 
humbly  testify,  in  the  next  meeting  on  Tuesday  or 
Friday  evening,  how  it  has  been  in  your  experience, 
you  are  illustrating  for  the  preacher.  When  the 
preacher  tells  what  Christianity  can  do  for  people,  if 
your  life  illustrates  it  for  all  around,  there  is  a  power 
that  no  speech  can  ever  have.  There  remains  a  fourth 
law  of  spiritual  work. 

IV.  Spiritual  work  has  rich  rewards  :  *'And  he  that 
reapeth  receiveth  wages,"  saith  Jesus,  "  and  gathereth 


42  SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK. 

fruit  unto  life  eternal.'^  Spiritual  work  has  rich  re- 
wards. It  has  the  reward  of  success.  It  is  not  in  vain 
to  try  to  do  good  to  the  souls  of  men  through  the  truth 
of  God  and  seeking  his  grace.  Sometimes  you  may  feel 
as  if  you  were  standing  at  the  foot  of  a  precipice  a 
thousand  feet  high  and  trying  to  spring  to  its  sumrnit, 
and  were  all  powerless.  Sometimes  you  may  feel  as  if 
you  had  flung  your  words  against  a  stone  wall  and  made 
no  impression  at  all.  Sometimes  you  may  go  away  all 
ashamed  of  what  you  have  said  in  public  or  in  private. 
But  there  was  never  a  word  spoken  that  uttered  God's 
truth  and  sought  God's  blessing,  that  was  spoken  in 
vain.  Somehow  it  does  good  to  somebody,  it  does  good 
at  some  time  or  other ;  it  shall  be  known  in  earth  or  in 
heaven  that  it  did  do  good.  Comfort  your  hearts  with 
these  words  :  It  is  not  in  vain  to  try  to  do  good.  You 
may  say,  "  I  have  not  the  lips  of  the  eloquent,  the 
tongue  of  the  learned,  how  can  I  talk?'^  There  is  many 
a  minister  who  is  eloquent  and  has  preached  to  gathered 
congregations,  who  could  tell  you  that  he  knows  of 
many  more  instances  in  which  his  private  words  have 
been  blest  to  individuals  than  he  knows  of  in  his  public 
discourses.  I  knew  of  a  girl  who  had  been  so  afflicted 
that  she  could  not  leave  her  couch  for  years,  who  had  to 
be  lifted  constantly — poor,  helpless  creature! — but  who 
would  talk  to  those  who  came  into  her  room  about  her 
joy  in  God,  and  would  persuade  them  to  seek  the  con- 
solations of  the  gospel,  and  many  were  benefited  and 
would  bring  their  friends  to  her,  till  after  a  while  they 
brought  them  from  adjoining  counties,  that  she,  the 
poor,  helpless  girl,  might  influence  them  ;  at  length  she 


SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIRITUAL   WORK.  43 

even  began  to  write  letters  to  people  far  away,  and  that 
girFs  sick-bed  became  a  centre  of  blessing  to  people 
throughout  a  whole  region.  We  talk  about  doing  noth- 
ing in  the  world.  Ah,  if  our  hearts  were  in  it !  we  do 
not  know  what  we  can  do.  That  tiger  in  the  cage  has 
been  there  since  he  was  a  baby  tiger,  and  does  not  know 
that  he  could  burst  those  bars  if  he  were  but  to  exert 
his  strength.  O  the  untried  strength  in  all  our 
churcheSj  and  the  good  that  the  people  could  do  if  we 
would  only  try,  and  keep  trying,  and  pray  for  God's 
blessing.  My  friends,  you  cannot  save  your  soul 
as  a  solitary,  and  you  ought  not  to  be  content  to  go 
alone  into  the  paradise  of  God.  We  shall  best  promote 
our  own  piety  when  we  are  trying  to  save  others.  W^e 
shall  be  most  helpful  to  ourselves  when  we  are  most 
helpful  to  those  around  us.  Many  of  you  have  found 
it  so ;  and  all  of  you  may  find  it  so,  again  and  again, 
with  repetitions  that  shall  pass  all  human  telling.  ^'  For 
he  that  watereth  shall  be  watered  also  again." 

Spiritual  work  shall  also  be  rewarded  in  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest's  commendation  and  welcome.  Ah,  he  will  know 
which  was  the  sowing  and  which  was  the  reaping.  The 
world  may  not  know  ;  we  may  never  hear ;  but  he  will 
know  which  was  the  sowing  and  which  was  the  reaping, 
and  who  tried  to  do  good  and  thought  he  had  not  done 
it,  and  who  was  sad  and  bowed  down  with  the  thought 
of  being  utterly  unable  to  be  useful,  and  yet  was  useful. 
He  will  know,  he  will  reward  even  the  desire  of  the 
heart,  which  there  was  no  opportunity  to  carry  out.  He 
will  reward  the  emotion  that  trembled  on  the  lip  and 
could  find  no  utterance.     He  will   reward  David  for 


44  SOME   LAWS   OF   SPIEITUAL   WORK. 

wanting  to  build  the  temple  as  well  as  Solomon  for 
building  it.  He  will  reward  all  that  we  do,  and  all  that 
we  try  to  do,  and  all  that  we  wish  to  do.  O  blessed 
God  !  he  will  be  your  reward  and  mine,  forever  and 
forever. 


III. 

THE  HABIT  OF  THANKFULNESS. 

In  everything  give  thanks. — 1  Thess.  5 :  18. 

WE  hear  a  great  deal  said  about  habits.  But  it  nearly 
always  means  bad  habits.  Why  should  we  not 
think  and' speak  much  about  good  habits?  They  are  as 
real,  and  almost  as  great,  a  power  for  good  as  bad  habits 
are  for  evil.  We  do  our  work  largely  by  the  aid  of 
habit.  How  much  this  helps  one  in  playing  on  an  in- 
strument, or  writing  on  a  type-writer.  Through  many 
a  familiar  conjunction  of  notes  or  of  letters  the  fingers 
fly  with  the  very  smallest  amount  of  attention  and  ex- 
ertion. Many  a  man  who  is  growing  old  will  every  day 
get  through  an  amount  of  work  that  surprises  his 
friends,  and  it  is  possible  because  he  works  in  the  lines 
of  lifelong  habit.  Besides,  the  only  possible  way  to 
keep  out  bad  habits  is  to  form  good  habits.  By  a  ne- 
cessity of  our  nature,  whatever  is  frequently  and  at  all 
regularly  done  becomes  habitual.  If  a  man  has  been 
the  slave  of  evil  habits,  and  wishes  to  be  permanently 
free,  he  must  proceed  b}^  systematic  and  persevering  ef- 
fort to  establish  corresponding  good  habits.  The  edu- 
cation of  our  children,  both  at  school  and  at  home,  the 
self-education  of  our  own  early  life,  consists  mainly  in 
the  formation  of  intellectual  and  moral  habits.  I  think 
we  ought  to  talk  more  upon  this  subject,  in  public  and 

45 


46  THE   HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS. 

in  private — upon  the  power  and  blessing  of  good  hab- 
its. And  the  theme  of  this  discourse  will  be,  the  habit 
of  thankfulness  to  God. 

I.  Consider  the  value  of  the  habit  of  thankfulness. 

It  tends  to  quell  repining.  We  are  all  prone,  espe- 
cially in  certain  moods,  to  complain  of  our  lot.  Every 
one  of  us  has  at  some  time  or  other  imagined,  and  per- 
haps declared,  that  he  has  a  particularly  hard  time  in 
this  world.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  other  moods  we  are 
heartily  ashamed  of  ourselves  for  such  repining.  But  how 
prevent  its  recurrence  ?  A  most  valuable  help  will  be 
the  habit  of  thankfulness  to  God.  Then  if  a  fretful,  re- 
pining spirit  begins  to  arise,  just  in  the  middle,  perhaps, 
of  some  complaining  sentence,  we  shall  suddenly  change 
to  an  expression  of  thankfulness — and  perhaps  end  with 
laughing  at  ourselves  for  the  folly  of  such  repining. 

It  tends  to  enhance  enjoyment.  We  all  know  that 
when  we  receive  a  gift,  with  any  true  sentiment  and 
any  suitable  expression  of  thankfulness,  the  reaction  of 
gratitude  augments  our  gratification. 

It  serves  to  soothe  distress.  Persons  who  are  greatly 
afflicted,  and  not  wont  to  be  thankful,  sometimes  find  the 
memory  of  past  joys  only  an  aggravation  of  present  sor- 
row. Far  otherwise  with  one  who  has  learned  to  be 
habitually  thankful.  For  him  the  recollection  of  hap- 
pier hours  is  still  a  comfort. 

It  helps  to  allay  anxiety.  Did  you  ever  notice  what 
the  apostle  says  to  the  Philippians  ?  "  In  nothing  be 
anxious ;  but  in  everything  by  prayer  and  supplication 
ivith  thanksgiving  let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto 
God.     And  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  under- 


THE   HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS.  47 

standing,  shall  guard  your  hearts  and  your  thoughts  in 
Christ  Jesus/^  Notice  carefully  that  we  are  to  prevent 
anxiety  by  prayer  as  to  the  future  with  thanksgiving  for 
the  past. 

It  cannot  fail  to  deepen  peniten(;e.  "  The  goodness  of 
God  leadeth  thee  to  repentance."  When  we  are  fully  in 
the  habit  of  thankfully  observing  and  recalling  the  lov- 
ing kindnesses  and  tender  mercies  of  our  heavenly  Fa- 
ther, this  will  make  us  perceive  more  clearly,  and  lament 
more  earnestly,  the  evil  of  sin  against  him ;  and  what 
is  more,  this  will  strengthen  us  to  turn  from  our  sins  to 
his  blessed  service. 

It  has  as  one  necessary  effect  to  brighten  hope.  "  I 
love  to  think  on  mercies  past.  And  future  good  implore," 
is  a  very  natural  conjunction  of  ideas.  If  we  have  been 
wont  to  set  up  Ebenezers  upon  our  path  of  life,  then 
every  glance  backward  along  these  mile-stones  of  God's 
mercy  will  help  us  to  look  forward  Avith  more  of  humble 
hope. 

It  serves  to  strengthen  for  endurance  and  exertion. 
We  all  know  how  much  more  easily  and  effectively  they 
work  who  work  cheerfully  ;  and  the  very  nutriment  of 
cheerfulness  is  found  in  thankfulness  as  to  the  past  and 
hope  as  to  the  future. 

If  this  habit  of  thankfulness  to  God  is  so  valuable,  it 
is  certainly  Avorth  our  while  to  consider, 

II.  Occasions  of  habitual  thankfulness.  It  is  ob- 
vious that  these  are  numerous  and  various  beyond  de- 
scription. But  we  may  find  profit  in  summing  them 
all  up  under  two  heads. 

1.  We  should  be  thankful  to   God   for  everything 


48  THE   HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS. 

that  is  pleasant.  No  one  will  dispute  that,  proposition 
in  theory,  whatever  may  be  our  practice.  The  apostle 
James  tells  us  that  "  every  good  gift  and  every  perfect 
boon  is  from  above,  coming  down  from  the  Father  of 
lights."  We  have  so  much  occasion  to  speak  about  the 
religious  benefits  of  affliction,  to  dwell  on  the  blessed 
consolations  of  Christian  piety  amid  the  sorrows  of  life, 
that  we  are  in  danger  of  overlooking  the  other  side. 
It  is  a  religious  duty  to  enjoy  to  the  utmost  every  right- 
ful pleasure  of  earthly  existence.  He  who  gave  us 
these  bodies,  so  "fearfully  and  wonderfully  made," 
who  created  us  in  his  own  image,  with  spirits  of  such 
keen  appetency  and  longing  aspiration,  desires  that  we 
should  find  life  a  pleasure.  As  already  intimated,  we 
work  best  at  what  we  enjoy.  It  is  highly  important 
that  the  young  should  enjoy  what  they  are  studying ; 
and  while  this  may,  to  some  extent,  be  accomplished  by 
giving  them  studies  they  fancy,  it  is  also  possible  that 
by  well  guided  efforts  they  should  learn  to  relish  studies 
to  which  they  were  at  first  disinclined.  I  sometimes 
hear  young  married  people  say,  "We  are  going  to 
housekeeping,  and  then  we  can  have  what  we  like." 
I  sometimes  feel  at  liberty  to  reply,  "  Yes,  to  a  certain 
extent  you  may ;  but  what  is  far  more  important  and 
interesting,  you  will  be  apt  to  like  what  you  have."  To 
have  what  we  like  is  for  the  most  part  an  impossible 
dream  of  human  life  ;  to  like  what  we  have  is  a  possi- 
bility, and  not  only  a  duty,  but  a  high  privilege. 

2.  We  should  be  thankful  to  God  for  everything  that 
is  painful.  Well,  that  may  seem  to  be  stating  the  mat- 
ter too  strongly.     We  can   help  ourselves  by  noticing 


THE    HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS.  49 

that  whatever  may  be  possible  in  that  direction,  the 
apostle  has  not  in  the  text  enjoined  qnite  so  much  as 
the  phrase  just  used  would  propose.  He  does  not  say, 
"for  everything  give  thanks,'^  though  that  might  be  en- 
joined ;  he  says,  "  in  everything  give  thanks."  Now  that, 
surely,  need  not  seem  impossible. 

We  may  always  be  thankful  that  the  situation  is  no 
worse.  The  old  negro's  philosophy  was  wise^and  good  : 
"  Bress  de  Lord,  'taint  no  wuss.''  We  always  deserve 
that  it  should  be  worse,  no  matter  how  sorrowful  may 
be  the  actual  situation.  We  can  never  allow  ourselves 
to  question  that  with  some  persons  it  has  been  worse. 
Let  us  always  bless  the  Lord,  that  but  for  his  special 
mercies  it  would  be  worse  with  us  to-day.  I  recall  an 
unpublished  anecdote  of  President  Madison,  told  to  me 
in  the  region  where  he  lived  and  died.  It  may  be  men- 
tioned, by  the  way,  that  IMr.  Madison  was  a  rarely  ex- 
cellent and  blameless  man.  His  biographer  told  me 
that,  notwithstanding  all  the  political  conflicts  of  a  life 
so  long  and  so  distinguished,  he  found  no  indication 
that  Mr.  Madison's  private  character  had  ever  been  in 
the  slightest  degree  assailed — an  example  which  it 
would  perhaps  be  difficult  to  parallel.  In  his  old  age 
the  venerable  ex-President  suffered  from  many  diseases, 
took  a  variety  of  medicines  and  contrived  to  live  not- 
withstanding. An  old  friend  from  the  adjoining  county 
of  Albemarle  sent  him  a  box  of  vegetable  pills  of  his 
own  production,  and  begged  to  be  informed  whether 
they  did  not  help  him.  In  due  time  came  back  one  of 
those  carefully-written  and  often  felicitous  notes  for 
which  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Jefferson  were  both 
4 


50  THE   HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS. 

famous,  to  somewhat  the  fol lowing  effect :  "  My  dear 
friend.  I  tliaiik  you  very  much  for  the  box  of  pills. 
I  have  takeu  them  all ;  and  while  I  cannot  say  that  I 
am  better  since  taking  them,  it  is  quite  possible  that  I 
might  have  been  worse  if  I  had  not  taken  them,  and  so 
I  beg  you  to  accept  my  sincere  acknowledgments.'^ 
Keally,  my  friends,  this  is  not  a  mere  pleasantry. 
There  is  always  something,  known  or  unknown,  but  for 
which  our  condition  might  have  been  worse,  and  at  the 
very  least,  that  something  constitutes  an  occasion  for 
gratitude.  *  Whatever  we  may  have  lost,  there  is  always 
something  left. 

As  already  observed,  our  present  sufferings  may  well 
set  in  brighter  relief  the  remembered  happiness  of  other 
days.  And  though  men  are  prone  to  make  this  an  oc- 
casion of  repining,  yet  it  ought  to  be  an  occasion  of 
thankfulness.  Not  long  ago  a  young  husband  spoke  to 
me,  with  bitter  sorrow,  about  the  death  of  his  wife.  I 
suggested  that  he  might  well  be  thankful  for  having 
lived  several  happy  years  in  the  most  intimate  compan- 
ionship with  one  so  lovely ;  and  that  in  coming  years, 
when  the  blessed  alchemy  of  memory  should  make  her 
character  seem  all-perfect  in  his  eyes,  he  might  well  find 
pathetic  and  ineffable  pleasure  in  the  memory  of  that 
early  time.  We  all  know  how  to  repeat,  amid  sorrow- 
ful recollections,  those  words  of  Tennyson,  ^^  O,  death 
in  life,  the  days  that  are  no  more  !  "  But  it  is  surely 
possible  so  to  cherish  blessed  and  inspiring  memories 
as  to  invert  the  line,  and  say,  "  O,  life  in  death,  the  days 
that  are  no  more  !  " 

There  is  a  still  more  important  view  of  this  matter. 


THE    HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS.  51 

It  has  become  a  blessed  commonplace  of  Christian  phil- 
osophy that  our  sufferings  may,  through  the  grace  of 
God,  be  the  means  of  improving  our  character.  Such 
a  result  is  by  no  means  a  matter  of  course.  Sufferings 
may  be  so  borne,  with  such  bitter  repining  and  selfish 
brooding,  as  greatly  to  damage  character.  But  the 
Scriptures  assure  us  that  devout  souls  may  regard  afflic- 
tion as  but  a  loving  Father's  chastisement,  meant  for 
their  highest  good.  In  all  the  ages  there  has  never 
been  a  pious  life  that  did  not  share  this  experience.  To 
be  exempt  from  it  would,  as  the  Bible  expressly  de- 
clares, give  clear  proof  that  we  are  not  children  of  God 
at  all.  Many  of  us  could  testify  to-day,  if  it  were 
appropriate,  that  the  sorrows  of  life  have  by  God's 
blessing  done  us  good.  All  of  us  have  occasion  to  lay 
more  thoroughly  to  heart  the  lessons  of  affliction.  And 
oh  !  if  w^e  do  ever  climb  the  shining  hills  of  glory,  and 
look  back  with  clearer  vision  upon  the  strangely  min- 
gled joys  and  sorrows  of  this  earthly  life,  then  how 
deeply  grateful  we  shall  be  for  those  very  afflictions, 
which  at  the  time  we  find  it  so  hard  to  endure.  If  we 
believe  this  to  be  true,  and  it  is  a  belief  clearly  founded 
on  Scripture,  then  can  we  not  contrive,  even  amid  the  se- 
verest sufferings,  to  be  thankful  for  the  lessons  of  sor- 
row, for  the  benefits  of  affliction  ? 

Remember,  too,  how  our  seasons  of  affliction  make 
real  to  us  the  blessed  thought  of  Divine  compassion  and 
sympathy.  AVhen  you  look  with  parental  anguish  upon 
your  own  suffering  child,  then  you  know,  as  never  be- 
fore, the  meaning  of  those  words,  ^'  Like  as  a  father 
pitieth    his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear 


52  THE   HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS. 

him/'  When  you  find  the  trials  of  life  hard  to  bear, 
then  it  becomes  unspeakably  sweet  to  remember  that 
our  high  priest  can  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our 
infirmities,  having  been  "  in  all  points  tempted  like  as 
we  are,  yet  without  sin/'  Thus  affliction  brings  to  the 
devout  mind  blessed  views  of  the  Divine  character, 
which  otherwise  we  should  never  fully  gain. 

"  Then  sorrow,  touched  by  thee,  grows  bright 
With  more  than  rapture's  ray  ; 
As  darkness  shows  us  vrorlds  of  Hght 
We  never  saw  by  day." 

Besides  all  this,  remember  that  the  sufferings  of  this 
present  life  will  but  enhance,  by  their  contrast,  tlie 
blessed  exemptions  of  the  life  to  come.  A  thousand 
times  have  I  remembered  the  text  of  my  first  funeral 
sermon,  "  And  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither 
sorrow  nor  crying ;  neither  shall  there  be  any  more 
pain  :  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away.''  These 
are  the  present  things  now — all  around  us  and  within 
us ;  but  the  time  is  coming  when  they  will  be  the 
former  things,  quite  passed  away.  You  know  the  use 
which  skilful  composers  make  of  discords  in  music. 
The  free  use  of  them  is  among  the  characteristics  of 
Wagner  ;  but  they  are  often  found  in  our  simplest  tunes 
for  public  worship.  The  jarring  discord  is  solved,  and 
makes  more  sweet  tlie  harmony  into  which  it  passes. 
And  oh  !  the  time  is  coming  when  all  the  pains  and 
pangs  of  this  present  life  will  seem  to  have  been  only 
"  a  brief  discordant  prelude  to  an  everlasting  harmony." 

My  friends,  are  you  optimists  or  pessimists?     Let  me 


THE   HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS.  53 

explain  to  the  children  what  those  words  mean.  The 
Latin  word  optlmus  means  best,  and  pessinius  means 
worst.  So  an  Optimist  is  one  who  maintains  that  this 
is  the  best  possible  world  ;  and  a  Pessimist,  that  it  is  the 
worst  possible  world.  Now  which  are  you,  an  optimist 
or  a  pessimist  ?  For  my  part,  I  am  neither.  Surely 
no  man  can  really  imagine  that  this  is  the  best  possible 
world,  save  in  some  brief  moment  of  dreamy  forgetful- 
ness.  And  as  to  thinking  it  the  worst  possible  world, 
— well,  a  person  would  have  to  be  uncommonly  well  off 
who  could  afford  to  think  that.  I  read,  some  time  ago, 
a  biography  of  Arthur  Schopenhauer,  the  celebrated 
German  pessimist.  I  was  not  surprised  to  find  that  his 
father  left  him  an  independent  fortune,  and  he  had  no 
painful  bodily  diseases.  He  could  afford  to  spend  his 
time  in  trying  to  persuade  everybody  to  be  miserable, 
in  building  pessimistic  theories.  But  most  of  us  have 
so  many  real  toils  and  troubles  that  we  are  instinctively 
driven  to  search  for  the  bright  side  of  life,  to  seek  all 
possible  consolation  and  cheer.  Agassiz  had  "  no  time 
to  make  money;''  and  few  of  us  will  ev^er  have  time  to 
be  pessimists.  No,  we  cannot  begin  to  say  with  Pope, 
"  Whatever  is,  is  right ;"  nor  yet  to  reverse  it,  "  What- 
ever is,  is  wrong.''  But  whether  poetical  or  not,  it  will 
be  a  very  true  and  valuable  saying  if  we  read,  ^'  What- 
ever is,  you  must  make  the  best  of  it."  And  just  in 
proportion  as  we. strive  to  make  the  best  of  everything, 
we  shall  find  it  practicable  to  carry  out  the  apostle's  in- 
junction, "  In  everything  give  thanks." 

The  greatest  of  early  Christian  preachers,  perhaps  the 
greatest  in  all  Christian  history,  was  Chrysostom.     His 


54  THE    HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS. 

motto  was,  "  Glory  to  God  for  all  things."  He  proba- 
bly derived  it  from  the  story  of  Job,  whicli  was  his  fa- 
vorite subject  of  devout  meditation,  and  is  mentioned  in 
a  large  proportion  of  his  eloquent  sermons.  You  might 
fancy  that  it  was  easy  for  the  young  man  to  say,  "  Glory 
to  God  for  all  things,"  when  he  was  growing  up  in  An- 
tioch,  the  idol  of  his  widowed  mother,  with  ample  means, 
and  the  finest  instructors  of  the  age-.  You  might  think 
it  easy  to  say  this  when  he  was  a  famous  preacher,  in 
Antioch,  and  afterwards  in  Constantinople,  when  ten 
thousand  people  crowded  the  great  churches  to  hear  him ; 
though  such  a  preacher  could  not  fail  to  suffer  profound- 
ly through  compassion  for  the  perishing,  and  anxious  ef- 
fort to  reclaim  the  wandering,  and  sympathy  for  all  the 
distressed,  as  well  as  with  many  a  pang  of  grief  and 
shame  that  he  did  not  preach  better.  But  Chrysostom 
continued  to  say  this,  when  the  Court  at  Constantinople 
turned  against  him,  when  the  wicked  Empress  became 
his  enemy,  and  compassed  his  banishment  again  and 
again.  When  his  friends  would  go  to  far  Armenia  and 
visit  him  in  exile,  he  would  say  to  them,  "  Glory  to  God 
for  all  things."  When  he  was  sent  to  more  distant  and 
inhospitable  regions,  so  as  to  be  out  of  reach  of  such  pious 
^asiting,  his  letters  were  apt  to  end,  "  Glory  to  God  for 
all  things."  And  when  the  soldiers  were  dragging  him 
through  winter  snows,  and,  utterly  worn  out,  he  begged 
to  be  taken  into  a  little  way-side  church  that  he  might 
die,  his  last  words,  as  he  lay  on  the  cold  stone  floor,  w^ere, 
"  Glory  to  God  for  all  things." 

III.    How  may  the  habit  of  thankfulness  be  formed 
and  maintained?    Well,  how  do  we  form  other  habits? 


THE    HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS.  55 

If  you  wish  to  establish  the  habit  of  doing  a  certain  thing^ 
you  take  pains  to  do  that  thing,  upon  every  possible  oc- 
casion, and  to  avoid  everything  inconsistent  therewith. 
Now,  then,  if  you  wish  to  form  the  habit  of  thankful- 
ness, just  begin  by  being  thankful — not  next  year,  but 
to-night ;  not  for  some  great  event  or  experience,  but  for 
whatever  has  just  occurred,  whatever  has  been  pleasant, 
yes,  and  we  did  say,  for  whatever  has  been  painful.  You 
certainly  can  find  some  special  occasion  for  thanksgiving 
this  very  night.  And  then  go  on  searching  for  matter 
of  gratitude,  and  just  continuing  to  be  thankful,  hour 
by  hour,  day  by  day.  Thus  the  habit  will  be  formed,  by 
a  very  law  of  our  nature. 

But  remember  that  good  habits  cannot  be  maintained 
without  attention.  They  require  a  certain  self-control,  a 
studious  self-constraint.  Is  not  the  habit  of  thankful- 
ness worth  taking  pains  to  maintain  ?  The  older  per- 
sons present  remember  Ole  Bull,  the  celebrated  violinist. 
I  once  dined  in  company  with  him,  and  in  an  hour's 
conversation  across  the  table  found  him  a  man  of  gener- 
ous soul,  full  of  noble  impulses  and  beautiful  enthusi- 
asms, and  rich  with  the  experience  of  wide  travel.  And 
I  was  greatly  interested  in  a  remark  of  his  which  is 
recorded  in  the  recent  biography :  "  When  I  stop  prac- 
ticing one  day,  I  see  the  difference ;  when  I  stop  two 
days,  my  friends  see  the  difference  ;  when  I  stop  a  week, 
everybody  sees  the  difference.''  Here  was  a  man  who 
had  cultivated  a  wonderful  natural  gift,  by  lifelong  la- 
bor, until,  as  a  performer  upon  the  finest  of  instruments, 
he  was  probably  the  foremost  man  of  his  time ;  and  yet 
he  could  not  afford  to  stop  practicing  for  a  single  week. 


56  THE    HABIT   OF   THANKFULNESS. 

or  even  for  a  single  day.  "  They  do  it  for  an  earthly 
crown;  but  we  for  a  heavenly."  Christian  brethren, 
shall  we  shrink  from  incessant  vigilance  and  perpetual 
eifort  to  keep  up  the  habit  of  thankfulness  to  God? 

I  see  many  young  persons  present  this  evening.  Will 
not  some  of  you  at  once  begin  the  thoughtful  exercise  of 
continual  thankfulness  ?  Will  you  not  think  over  it, 
pray  over  it,  labor  to  establish  and  maintain  so  beautiful 
and  blessed  a  habit?  Ah,  what  a  help  it  will  be  to  you 
amid  all  the  struggles  of  youth  and  all  the  sorrows  of 
age !  And  in  far-coming  years,  when  you  are  gray,  w^ien 
the  preacher  of  this  hour  has  long  been  forgotten,  let  us 
hope  that  you  will  still  be  gladly  recommending  to  the 
young  around  you  the  Habit  of  Thankfulness. 


0 


lY. 

ASK  AND  IT  SHALL  BE  GIVEN  YOU. 

Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  you. — Matthew  vii.  7. 

NE  thing  is  certain,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  believed 
in  prayer.  It  is  no  new  thing  to  find  some  per- 
sons who  question  the  reality  of  prayer.  There  have 
always  been  such  persons;  but  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
believed  in  it.  He  showed  his  belief  by  often  teaching 
us  that  we  ought  to  pray,  by  assuring  us  that  prayer 
will  be  heard,  and  by  praying  much  himself.  When  a 
person,  profoundly  sincere  and  highly  intelligent,  fre- 
quently urges  others  to  do  a  certain  thing,  and  fre- 
quently does  it  himself,  we  are  sure  that  he  believes  in 
it;  so,  whenever  a  man  undertakes  to  say  that  prayer 
is  not  a  reality,  it  ought  to  be  distinctly  borne  in  mind 
that  he  flings  away  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ ;  that 
he  arrays  himself  openly  and  hopelessly  against  the 
whole  genius  of  the  Christian  religion,  against  the 
plainest  teachings  and  constant  practice  of  its  founder. 
We  ought  always  to  see  where  we  are  and  to  see  what 
is  the  meaning  of  this  or  that  position. 

I  do  not  know  whether  it  is  worth  while,  in  passing, 
even  for  a  moment,  to  recall  the  sensation  of  a  few 
years  ago  on  this  subject,  and  remark  upon  it.  I  sup- 
pose that  the  idea  of  what  they  used  to  call  a  prayer- 
test  in  the  newspapers  is  plainly  enough  a  thing 
improper  and  impossible.     It  is   improper,  because  to 

^1 


58  ASK   AND   IT   SHALL   BE   GIVEN    YOU. 

ask  Christians  to  confine  their  prayers  to  one  side  of  a 
hospital,  and  pray  not  at  all  for  the  unhappy  sufferers 
on  the  other  side,  is  to  ask  a  thing  out  of  the  question — 
a  refined  species  of  cruelty  to  be  practiced  by  those  who 
believe  in  prayer.  It  is  improper,  too,  because  it  pro- 
poses that  we  should  try  experiments  upon  God.  They 
did  sometimes  try  that  sort  of  thing  upon  Jesus  Christ, 
and  he  invariably  refused  to  submit  to  it.  He  wrought 
wonders  and  signs  beyond  number  when  he  thought 
proper;  but  when  they  demanded  a  sign  according  to 
what  they  thought  proper,  he  never  granted  it.  For 
us  to  do  this  that  is  proposed  would  be  just  that  which 
they  did.  And  besides  being  improper,  it  is  also  im- 
possible. We  do  not  believe  that  prayer  now  works 
miracles.  It  is  not  the  idea  at  all  that  prayer  operates 
with  respect  to  physical  fixed  forces  otherwise  than  in 
accordance  with  physical  laws.  And  so  if  you  suppose 
prayer  to  be  answered  in  such  a  case,  it  could  only  be  in 
concurrence  with  proper  physical  conditions.  Then  the 
unbeliever  would  say  at  once  that  this  is  not  a  result  of 
prayer.  Such  a  test  is  impossible  unless  prayer  works 
miracles,  and  no  one  who  understands  the  matter  would 
suppose  that  to  be  the  idea.  Is  it  not  true,  then — plain 
enough  now  as  we  look  back  upon  it — that  the  great 
newspaper  sensation  of  a  few  years  since  was  a  thing 
improper  and  a  thing  impossible? 

But  for  us  who  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  it 
comes  back  to  this,  that  our  yearning  after  God  and 
that  disposition  to  cry  out  to  him  for  mercy  and  help, 
which  is  no  invention  of  theological  thinkers,  which  is 
the  natural  product  of  the  human  heart  and  the  natural 


ASK   AND    IT   SHALL    BE   GIVEN    YOU.  59 

expression  of  human  need  and  dependence,  lias  the  high 
sanction  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity.  He  believed 
in  prayer;  he  taught  us  to  pray;  he  said:  '^Ask,  and 
it  shall  be  given.'^ 

And  notice  how  often  he  has  repeated  it.  One  might 
say  that  that  one  word  was  enough ;  one  might  say  that 
all  human  hearts  ought  to  fasten  on  that  one  utterance, 
and  feed  themselves  on  it,  and  rejoice  in  its  assurances. 
But  he  said  it  three  times:  ^'Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given 
you;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find;  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you."  As  if  not  content  with  that,  he 
repeats  it  three  times  again,  in  the  form  of  an  assurance 
that  so  it  always  is.  ^'  For  every  one  that  asketli  re- 
ceiveth,  and  he  that  seeketh  findeth,  and  to  him  that 
knocketh  it  is  opened."  And  even  after  that  he  goes 
on  to  argue  it  by  a  most  cogent  argument  and  affecting 
appeal.  Why  this  multiplied  repetition  and  assurance? 
Ah  !  my  friends  and  brethren,  he  knew  very  well  how 
imperfectly  we  believe  in  prayer;  how  difficult  it  is  for 
us  to  treat  prayer  as  a  reality,  and  he  wanted  to  help 
us.  He  condescends  to  our  infirmity,  and  again  and 
again,  in  multiplied  forms  of  expression,  he  would  as- 
sure us  that  if  we  ask,  we  shall  receive.  You  know 
how  prone  we  are  to  make  prayer  degenerate  into  an 
outward  thing.  A  little  child  needs  to  be  constantly 
reminded  by  its  mother  that  it  must  not  just  say 
prayers,  but  must  mean  what  it  is  saying.  i\-nd  we, 
with  all  our  intelligence  and  culture,  are  apt  to  make 
our  public  and  private  prayer  a  mere  outward  thing. 

How  hard  it  is  for  us  also,  when  we  try  to  pray,  to 
realize  what  we  are  doing  !      I  remember   being   once 


60  ASK    AND   IT   SHALL    BE   GIVEN   YOU. 

deeply  impressed  with  this  thought  when  present  at  an 
institution  for  the  deaf  and  dumb.  After  some  teaching 
had  been  done,  one  of  the  principal  instructors  proceeded 
to  give  them  a  little  address  on  religion,  we  were  told, 
and  then  he  called  upon  them  to  pray.  The  whole 
room  was  still.  He  stood  with  reverent  face  and  slowly 
moved  his  hands  and  arms  in  the  signs  which  they 
imderstood,  and  they  sat  before  him  with  distended,  gaz- 
ing eyes,  and  the  room  grew  still  as  with  the  stillness  of 
death.  I  said  to  myself— I  could  hear  my  heart  beat — 
I  said  ^'  This  is  praying.^'  Not  a  word  spoken,  but  this 
was  praying,  praying  without  any  of  the  forms  to  which 
we  are  accustomed.  The  eyes  were  wdde  open,  not  a 
sound  was  heard,  and  yet  human  souls  were  entering  into 
communion  with  the  Father  of  all  spirits.  I  went  away 
with  a  profounder  sense  than  ever  before  of  the  distinction 
between  the  mere  outward  form  and  means  of  prayer, 
and  the  inner  spirit  which  is  prayer.  Now,  our  Saviour 
knows  that  it  is  hard  for  us  to  realize  what  we  do  when 
we  are  trying  to  pray. 

He  also  knows  how  prone  we  are  to  be  discouraged  in 
our  attempts  to  pray  ;  when  ^Ye  try  experiments  upon 
prayer,  and  get  out  of  heart,  and  quit.  As  a  man  who 
is  endeavoring  to  effect  some  invention,  and  has  given 
all  his  labor  and  used  all  his  materials,  hoping  that  he 
will  get  the  result,  when  he  fails,  gives  over  the  experi- 
ment, so,  how  often  do  we  make  a  mere  half-hearted  ex- 
periment of  praying  for  a  certain  blessing  upon  ourselves 
and  others,  and  when  it  does  not  come,  we  are  tempted  to 
give  it  up  as  a  failure  !  The  Saviour  knows  how  im- 
patient w^e  are  that  the  blessing  shall  come  quickly,  and 


ASK    AND   IT   SHALL   BE   GIVEN    YOU.  61 

therefore  cautions  us  not  to  faint  when  we  do  not  receive 
it  on  the  instant.  We  may  not  receive  it  in  the  form  we 
looked  for.  It  may  come  in  a  form  so  different  that  we 
shall  scarcely  recognize  it  as  what  we  asked  for ;  and  so 
he  gives  us  his  assurance  and  seeks  to  build  up  confidence 
in  our  hearts  that  praying  is  a  reality,  that  prayer  is  a 
power. 

And  now  notice  the  affecting  appeal  our  Lord  pro- 
ceeds to  make — an  appeal  which  those  of  us  who  are 
parents  will  feel  in  all  its  fullness,  but  which  all  of  us 
can  feel  more  or  less  because  all  of  us  know  something  of 
the  affection  of  our  own  parents.  "  What  man  is  there 
of  you — a  mere  man — who,  if  his  son  ask  for  bread,  will 
he  give  him  a  stone  ?"  Will  he  give  him  so/nething  that 
looks  like  bread,  but  wdiich  is  worthless  ?  ^'  Or  if  he 
ask  a  fish,  will  he  give  him  a  serpent  ?" — something  that 
looks  like  a  fish  but  which  is  poisonous  and  deadly  ? 
Will  he  mock  his  child's  petition  by  giving  him  some- 
thing like  what  he  asked  for,  but  that  would  be  useless 
and  harmful  ?  And  if  ye  who  are  evil,  with  all  the  im- 
perfections of  your  sinful  humanity,  if  ye  know  how  to 
give  good  gifts  to  your  children,  how  much  more  will 
your  Heavenly  Father  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask 
him.  It  is  not  an  argument  merely,  as  I  used  to  think 
it  was — it  is  not  an  argument  merely  as  to  willingness  to 
give.  It  is  an  argument  as  to  wisdom  in  giving.  If  ye 
then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to  your 
children.  The  parent  might  make  a  mistake  himself 
and  give  a  stone  for  bread,  or  a  serpent  for  a  fish ;  as  a 
rule,  parents  do  not  do  this  ;  and  if  even  ye,  in  your  ig- 
norance, know  how  to  give  good  gifls  to  your  children, 


62  ASK   AND   IT   SHALL   BE   GIVEN   YOU. 

how  much  more  will  your  Heavenly  Father  give  good 
gifts  to  those  who  ask  him  !  It  does  at  times  happen 
that  when  our  children  ask  for  bread  we  do  give  them  a 
stone ;  sometimes,  alas  !  when  they  ask  for  a  fish  we  give 
them  a  serpent.  We  do  this  because  we  make  sad  mis- 
takes. How  many  parents  think  they  are  giving  their 
children  something  good  when  they  are  giving  them  that 
which  is  useless  or  hurtful,  as  if  they  should  give  them 
a  poisonous  serpent  that  would  sting  them  to  death, 
though  they  do  not  know  it !  Often,  too,  we  are  ignorant, 
slothful  or  even  selfish,  and  when  the  child  asks,  we 
won't  take  the  pains  to  judge  carefully,  and  when  the 
child  entreats  again  and  again,  w^e  weakly  yield.  But  if 
even  we  who  are  ignorant,  heedless,  selfish,  know  how 
to  give  good  gifts,  how  much  more  will  our  Heavenly 
Father  give  good  gifts  to  them  that  ask  him,  for  he 
never  makes  mistakes  and  never  neglects  !  How  beauti- 
ful that  old  saying,  ^^Ile  is  too  wise  to  err,  and  too  good 
to  be  unkind  !''  He  never  makes  mistakes  in  listening 
to  our  requests.  He  is  never  too  busy  to  attend  to  our 
wishes.  And  the  very  thought  of  his  being  unkind  is 
intolerable. 

So,  then,  our  Father  is  not  only  willing  to  give,  he  is 
wise  in  giving.  That  is  the  point,  and  just  there  lies  one 
of  the  greatest  privileges  the  Scriptures  open  up  to  us, 
in  the  assurance  that  God  will  give  wisely,  and  this  in- 
volves withholding  where  he  shall  see  that  withholding 
is  better.  That  is  the  sweetest  privilege  of  prayer.  For  if 
God  should  give  to  you  and  me  an  unlimited  promise  of 
earthly  good  for  the  asking,  the  more  Ave  know  ourselves 
and  the  more  we  understand  human  nature  and  human 


ASK    AND    IT   SHALL   BE   GIVEN    YOU.  63 

life,  the  more  afraid  we  should  be  that  we  might  ask  for 
things  Avhich  would  be  harmful.  Have  you  not  often 
asked  God  for  something  which  you  have  lived  to  find 
out  would  have  been  a  curse  to  you  ?  Have  you  not 
often  entreated  God  to  spare  you  something  which  it 
turned  out  to  be  a  blessing  to  you  that  he  did  not  spare  ? 
Have  you  not  learned  more  and  more  how  little  you 
could  rely  upon  your  judgment  as  to  what  was  really 
best  ?  So  I  say  in  that  case  the  wisest  and  best  people 
would  be  the  slowest  to  ask,  and  people  would  pray  less 
in  proportion  as  they  are  better  fitted  to  receive.  But, 
as  God  is  wise  in  giving,  we  may  ask  without  fear.  If  we 
ask  for  something  that  we  think  is  good  and  he  sees  it 
is  evil,  we  may  be  sure  that  he  will  not  grant  it.  If  we 
ask  for  what  is  really  good, — he  will  do  for  us  either 
what  we  ask  or  something  which  he  sees  to  be  better 
than  what  we  asked.  And  so  I  repeat  that  this  is  a  part 
of  the  privilege  of  prayer. 

One  Sunday  afternoon,  now  many  years  ago,  I  re- 
member to  have  been  sitting  in  a  darkened  room  with 
the  body  of  a  little  child ;  and  in  the  room  was  a  little 
boy  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age,  one  of  those  strange, 
thoughtful  children  that  startle  us  so  by  asking  questions 
that  sink  down  deep  into  the  mysteries  of  human  life. 
After  a  long  silence  the  boy  spoke,  and  said,  "  Uncle,  I 
should  like  to  ask  you  something."  "AVell."  "Does 
not  the  Bible  say  that  whatever  we  ask  God,  he  will  do  for 
us  ? "  "  Yes."  "  Well,  I  did  ask  him  to  spare  my 
little  cousin's  life — I  did  ask  him  and  he  did  not  do  it. 
I  asked  him  and  I  don't  know  what  to  think  about  it." 
Ah !  I  thought,  as  we  sat  in  the  darkened  room,  how  far 


64  ASK   AND    IT  SHALL   BE   GIVEN    YOU. 

down  the  child  is  going  already  into  the  sorrowful 
depths  of  the  human  heart !  The  answer  I  made  was 
something  like  this  :  "  You  know  that  if  your  father 
should  send  you  off  to  boarding-school,  and  were  to  tell 
you  in  parting  that  whatever  you  wanted  you  must  write 
to  him  and  you  should  have  it ;  and  if  you  were  to 
write  to  your  father,  on  the  strength  of  that  promise, 
for  something  that  was  not  right  for  him  to  give,  or  was 
not  really  best  for  you,  your  father  would  be  very  sure 
not  to  give  it  to  you,  and  if  he  did  not  give  it  to  you,  would 
you  think  he  had  broken  his  promise  ?  ^'  The  child  heaved 
a  sigh  and  said,  "  Yes ;  I  think  I  see  how  it  is.'^  And 
my  friends,  the  more  you  reflect  upon  it,  the  more  com- 
fort there  is  in  that  thought,  that,  in  answering  our 
prayer  for  temporal  good,  our  Heavenly  Father  will 
give  wisely,  and  so  will  even  refuse  our  prayer  when 
He  sees  that  something  else  is  better. 

This  remarkable  encouragement  to  prayer  occurs 
towards  the  close  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Some 
of  the  commentators  think  there  is  no  connection  be- 
tween it  and  the  discourse  that  precedes ;  but  it  seems  to 
me  tliat  the  connection  is  plain.  "Ask,  and  ye  shall 
receive,''  explains  w^hat  he  had  been  saying  a  little  be- 
fore. He  said:  "Judge  not,  that  you  be  not  judged;" 
and  what  good  man  ever  heard  that  read,  or  read  it 
himself,  without  smitings  of  heart?  It  is  one  of  the 
commonest  things,  this  business  of  harsh  judgment  of 
others,  and  it  is  very  difficult  for  us  to  avoid  it.  We 
are  so  ready,  the  most  thoughtful  and  purest  of  us,  so 
ready  to  be  hard  upon  others  and  easy  upon  ourselves, 
when  we  ought  to  reverse  that  proceeding.    "Judge  not, 


ASK   AND   IT   SHALL   BE   GIVEN   YOU.  65 

tliat  ye  be  not  judged."  Then,  as  you  read  along,  be- 
hold you  find  something  that  seems  to  present  a  new 
and  opposite  difficulty.  "Give  not  that  which  is  holy 
to  the  dogs,  neither  cast  ye  your  pearls  before  swine, 
lest  they  trample  them  under  their  feet,  and  turn  again 
and  rend  you."  The  purport  of  this  is  somewhat  ob- 
scure ;  but  one  thing  is  clearly  involved.  We  must 
know  the  character  of  those  with  whom  we  have  inter- 
course, and  deal  with  them  accordingly;  and  yet  we 
must  not  judge  harshly.  We  must  refrain  from  judg- 
ment, and  at  the  same  time  must  keep  our  own  eyes 
open  and  know  men.  Now,  when  you  put  those  things 
together,  you  say.  Ah !  who  is  sufficient  for  these  things? 
Who  can  go  through  life,  knowing  the  folly  of  men, 
understanding  their  wiles  and  their  weaknesses,  and  yet 
not  judging  his  fellow-men  in  an  unkindly  spirit?  But 
he  who  enjoins  these  two  difficult  and  seemingly  antag- 
onistic precepts  immediately  afterwards  says :  "  Ask, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you."  Hard  it  is  for  us  to  do 
such  things  as  these;  but  "ask,  and  it  shall  be  given 
you." 

Again,  if  you  go  a  little  further  back  in  the  discourse, 
you  will  find  he  urges  upon  us  not  to  be  anxious  about 
temporal  good,  not  to  be  anxious  about  food  and  rai- 
ment, not  to  be  anxious  about  to-morrow;  and  those 
who  most  earnestly  try  to  follow  that  know  best  how 
hard  it  is  to  obey  the  command.  Ah,  as  the  responsi- 
bilities of  life  thicken  around  us,  and  there  come  to  be 
others  concerned  in  our  action,  it  grows  all  the  harder 
to  restrain  ourselves  from  anxiety  about  human  affairs. 
In  fact,  we  are  obliged  to  look  sharply  to  the  future 
5 


bb  ASK    AND    IT   SHALL   BE   GIVEN   YOU. 

and  plan  for  it,  even  for  the  far  distant  future.  And 
yet  here  is  Jesus  Christ  telling  us  not  to  be  anxious 
about  temporal  good,  not  to  be  anxious  about  the  future, 
but  to  put  our  trust  in  God's  providence  and  to  seek 
God's  righteousness,  and  then  there  shall  come  a  bless- 
ing upon  our  planning  and  exertion,  and  we  need  not  be 
anxious.  It  is  so  hard,  you  say,  for  a  man  to  go  on 
amid  grave  responsibilities,  and  yet  to  restrain  himself 
from  this  anxiety,  so  hard ;  but  he  who  urged  this  upon 
us  did  not  cease  speaking  before  he  said  :  ''  Ask,  and  it 
shall  be  given  you." 

Yet  again,  going  further  back  in  the  discourse,  you 
find  that  we  must  seek  ever,  and  not  be  content  with- 
out, a  higher  spiritual  morality  than  that  of  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees.  Now,  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  so  far 
as  outward  proprieties  of  life  are  concerned,  were  emi- 
nently good  men ;  and  yet  he  tells  us  we  must  be  better 
than  they  were.  We  must  not  only  be  outwardly  good, 
but  within  we  must  be  pure  from  sin.  We  must  not 
only  have  the  outward  appearance  of  chastity,  but  he 
tells  us  that  there  may  be  in  a  lustful  look  the  essential 
element,  and  therefore  the  guilt,  of  unchastity.  We  are 
not  only  to  restrain  ourselves  from  external  wrong- 
doing, but  govern  our  thoughts  and  desires,  and  con- 
trol our  whole  inner  being,  and  make  the  world  within 
us  conform  to  the  spirit  of  the  teachings  of  Christ. 
And  you  say :  ''  O,  how  difficult,  how  difficult !"  Yes, 
difficult;  but  he  who  enjoined  this  upon  us  did  not 
cease  to  speak  on  that  same  occasion  till  he  had  said : 
^^Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you." 

So,  then,  my  hearers,  let  us  learn  to  put  the  precepts 


ASK    AND   IT  SHALI.   BE   GIVEN   YOU.  67 

of  Christ  along  with  Christ's  invitation  to  seek  help 
from  on  high.  He  who  gave  these  stringent  commands 
gave  us  encouragement  to  come  and  ask  for  help,  the 
help  of  his  grace,  the  help  of  his  Holy  Spirit.  ^'  How 
much  more,''  as  our  Lord  expressed  it  on  another  oaca,- 
sion,  "  will  your  Heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  them  that  ask  him." 

My  friends,  why  do  you  not  pray  ?  Are  you  ashamed 
to  pray  ?  There  are  people  not  ashamed  to  be  practicing 
vice,  not  ashamed  to  be  heard  speaking  blasphemy,  but 
ashamed  to  have  it  known  that  they  pray.  There  are 
people  that  are  too  proud  to  bow  their  knees  before  the 
Lord  God.  There  are  people  that  think  somehow  it  is  be- 
neath their  dignity  to  pray.  Are  you  ashamed  to  pray  V 
The  poet  Coleridge  wrote  something  in  his  youth  whi(^h 
made  light  of  prayer ;  but,  in  his  later  years,  he  called 
a  friend  to  him  one  day  and  referred  to  what  he  had 
written  and  published,  and  said,  '^It  was  all  folly,"  and 
then  he  said  in  earnest  tones,  "  The  very  noblest  possible 
exercise  of  the  human  mind  is  prayer."  Is  it  not  so  ? 
When  men  in  all  the  loftiness  of  intellect  look  deepest 
into  the  spaces  of  the  universe  and  widest  into  its  won- 
ders ;  when  men,  in  the  might  of  administrative  talent, 
make  it  their  ruling  thought  to  control  whole  nations 
and  the  age  they  live  in  ;  when  men  govern  great  assem- 
blies and  sway  them  as  the  wind  sways  the  harvest  grain, 
even  then  it  is  all  a  little  thing  compared  to  the  noble- 
ness of  the  exercise  of  the  human  mind  in  prayer,  where- 
in a  human  being,  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  elevates 
his  thought  into  communion  with  the  thought  of  God,  liftj^ 
up  his  spirit  into  fellowship  with  the  Father  of  Spirits. 


68  ASK   AND   IT  SHALL   BE   GIVEN   YOU. 

There  was  a  man  that  trod  the  earth  once  who  was 
superior  to  all  men  in  holiness  and  wisdom,  who  lived 
all  his  life  on  earth  without  sin.  He  so  wise  and  good, 
loved  to  pray,  and  are  you  ashamed  to  pray  ? 

My  hearers,  why  do  you  not  all  pray  ?  God  knows 
whether  you  do  or  not,  and  you  know.  Are  you  afraid 
to  pray  ?  Well  a  man  might  be,  when  he  thinks  of  all 
his  sinfulness,  when  he  remembers  all  the  wicked  things 
that  he  has  done  that  men  know  of,  and  all  the  wicked 
things  he  has  thought  that  men  know  not  of,  but  God 
must  know  ;  when  he  sees  he  has  not  half  confidence 
in  the  God  he  thinks  of  praying  to.  But  there  is  a  name 
we  may  plead ;  there  is  an  intercessor  we  may  lean  on ; 
there  is  a  Holy  Spirit  to  help  our  infirmities  in  praying. 
O !  sinful  and  troubled  soul  of  man,  you  need  not  be 
afraid  to  pray  !  If  you  come  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  you  may  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace.  If 
you  come  leaning  on  the  Spirit's  help,  you  may  come 
assured  that  your  request  will  be  granted. 

My  hearers,  why  do  you  not  pray  ?  Have  you  no 
need  to  pray  ?  Is  there  no  good  thing  that  God  can 
give,  and  that  you  need  ?  No  earthly  good  for  yourself 
or  others,  about  which  you  had  better  be  asking  the 
Giver  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift?  No  spiritual 
good  ?  Have  you  no  sins  to  be  forgiven  ?  Have  you 
no  weakness  to  be  helped,  no  temptations  to  struggle 
against?  Have  you  no  troubles?  O  child  of  man, 
child  of  sin  and  sorrow,  living  in  the  strange  world  we 
are  called  to  inhabit,  have  you  no  need  to  pray  to  your 
Father  and  your  God  ?     Why  do  you  not  pray  ? 

My  friends,  let  us  make  it  a  practical  lesson  for  us  all. 


ASK    AND   IT   SHALL   BE   GIVEN   YOU.  69 

Christian  people,  begin  to  pray  more.  Fathers  of  fami- 
lies, if  you  have  neglected  to  pray  with  your  families, 
begin  now  at  once.  If  you  have  been  negligent  in  pub- 
lic or  private  prayer,  renew  your  petitions  with  earnest- 
ness. O,  troubled  one,  shrinking  away  from  the  Sav- 
iour, remember  that  he  said,  "  Ask  and  it  shall  be  given 
you.''  And,  if  there  is  somebody  here  this  evening  that 
has  not  prayed  for  months,  that  has  not  prayed  for  years ; 
if  there  is  some  man  that  has  not  prayed  since  the  time 
long  ago  when  he  prayed  by  his  mother's  knee,  and  who 
all  these  years  has  been  slighting  God's  word  and  reject- 
ing God's  invitation ;  O  soul,  O  fellow-sinner,  will 
you  not  to-night  take  Jesus'  word  home  to  your  heart, 
and  begin  to  find  in  your  experience  what  some  like  you 
have  found,  that  you  have  but  to  ask  and  it  shall  be 
given  ? 


V. 

HE  EVER  LIVETH  TO  INTERCEDE. 

Wherefore  also  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  that  draw  near 
unto  God  through  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
them.—TLeb.  7:  25. 

Yeaes  ago,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  I  went  to  hear 
an  eminent  musician.  He  played  with  genius  and  skill 
some  magnificent  music,  but  the  pieces  were  nearly 
all  new  to  me,  and,  as  often  happens  in  such  cases,  it 
required  so  much  effort  to  comprehend  the  idea  of 
the  piece,  that  I  could  but  partially  enjoy  its  beauty. 
At  length,  upon  being  loudly  applauded,  the  musician 
returned,  and  seating  himself  at  the  instrument,  struck 
out  in  full  tones  the  opening  notes  of  ^'  Home,  Sweet 
Home.'^  I  shall  never  forget  while  I  live  the  thrill 
that  passed  through  the  audience.  I  seemed  to  feel 
that  it  was  approaching  me,  seemed  to  feel  when  it 
reached  and  embraced  me.  That  was  a  theme  that  all 
could  comprehend,  and  rich  for  us  all  in  a  thousand  de- 
lightful suggestions  and  associations  ;  and,  strangers  as 
we  were,  the  hearts  of  the  vast  assembly  seemed  melted 
into  one  as  we  listened  to  those  swelling  tones.  My 
brethren,  I  wish  it  might  always  be  so  with  us  when 
one  begins  to  speak  to  us  of  Jesus.  There  is  many  a 
subject  of  public  discourse  that  well  deserves  our  atten- 
tion. Especially  the  topics  drawn  from  the  Bible  and 
usually  presented  from  the  pulpit  are  all  important  and 
70 


HE   EVER   LIVETH    TO    INTERCEDE.  71 

should  all  be  interesting.  Whatever  pertains  to  God 
and  his  providence,  to  his  gracious  dealings  with  man 
in  the  past,  and  his  purposes  of  mercy  for  the  future, 
whatever  to  the  condition  and  wants  of  our  race  as  sin- 
ful and  immortal,  should  awaken  our  minds  and  impress 
our  hearts.  Difficult  and  mysterious  as  some  of  these 
topics  are,  they  are  useful  ;  and  if  we  resist  the  tempta- 
tion to  wander  into  speculation  or  descend  into  seoular- 
ity,  they  will  give  us  pleasure  and  do  us  good.  But 
Jesus — it  is  a  theme  which  all  alike  can  understand,  in 
which  all  alike  are  profoundly  concerned,  a  theme  asso- 
ciated with  all  the  sweetest  recollections  of  our  spiritual 
life,  with  all  the  brightest  hopes  of  our  immortal  future. 
Ah  !  we  are  perishing  and  helpless  sinners,  and  it 
ought  to  thrill  through  our  very  hearts,  to  link  us  in 
living  sympathy,  and  kindle  our  souls  into  a  glow  of 
love  and  joy  to  hear  of  Jesus,  our  divine,  our  loving,  our 
precious  Saviour.  It  ought  to  be  not  mere  poetry,  but 
the  true  expression  of  genuine  feeling,  when  we  sing, — 

"Jesus,  I  love  thy  charming  name; 

'Tis  music  to  mine  ear; 
Fain  would  I  sound  it  out  so  loud 
That  earth  and  heaven  might  hear." 

And  my  text  to-day  treats  of  Jesus. 

The  Jewish  Christians  to  whom  this  Epistle  was  ad- 
dressed were  strongly  urged,  both  in  the  way  of  perse- 
cution and  persuasion,  to  apostatize  from  Christianity, 
and  return  to  Judaism.  Among  the  arguments  em- 
ployed for  this  purpose,  it  was  urged  that  Christianity 
had  no  priesthood,  no  sacrifice  or  temple,  and  so  was 


72  HE   EVER   LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE. 

really  no  religion  at  all.  The  inspired  writer  of  this 
Epistle  meets  these  arguments,  and,  in  fact,  turns  them 
into  proofs  of  the  superiority  of  Christianity.  Thus, 
in  regard  to  the  priesthood,  he  shows  that  Christianity 
has  a  priest,  a  great  High-Priest,  immensely  superior  to 
the  Levitical  priesthood.  His  office  is  held  forever. 
He  has  offered,  once  for  all,  the  wonderful  sacrifice  of 
himself,  which  is  forever  sufficient.  He  has  passed 
through  the  heavens  into  the  true  sanctuary,  bearing  his 
own  precious,  atoning  blood.  Then  Christianity  is  su- 
perior in  this,  as  in  other  respects,  to  Judaism,  that  is,  to 
the  Mosaic  dispensation  if  regarded  as  complete  in  it- 
self, and  designed  to  be  permanent ;  and  so  the  sacred 
writer  urges  his  brethren  not  to  apostatize,  interspersing 
everywhere  throughout  his  arguments  the  most  earnest 
exhortations  to  hold  fast  their  profession,  the  most 
solemn  warnings  of  the  guilt  and  ruin  of  apostasy. 
And  for  us  as  well  as  for  them,  grievous  is  the  guilt 
and  hopeless  the  ruin  of  abandoning  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  our  sole  hope  of  salvation. 

One  of  the  points  he  makes  to  prove  this  superiority 
of  Christ  and  Christianity,  is  that  from  which  the  text 
is  an  inference.  The  Levitical  priesthood  was  held  by 
many  persons  in  succession,  "because  that  by  death  they 
were  hindered  from  continuing  ;  '^  but  Jesus,  "  because 
he  abideth  forever,  hath  his  priesthood  unchangeable. 
Wherefore  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  that 
draw  near  unto  God  through  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth 
to  make  intercession  for  them."  The  phrase  translated 
"  to  the  uttermost  '^  signifies  "perfectly,"  "  completely ;  " 
he  can  save  completely,  can  complete  the  salvation  of 


HE   EVER   LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE.  73 

them  that  come  unto  God  through  him.  And  the 
thought  of  the  text  is  that  he  is  able  to  complete  their 
salvation,  because  he  ever  lives  to  intercede  for  them. 

Perhaps  we  are  accustomed  to  look  too  exclusively  to 
the  Saviour's  atoning  death,  not  dwelling  as  we  should 
upon  the  idea  of  his  interceding  life.  See  how  the 
apostle  speaks  in  Romans :  "  For  if,  while  we  were 
enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  through  the  death 
of  his  Son,  much  more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be 
saved  by  his  life.''  And  again :  "  Christ  Jesus  that 
died,  yea  rather  that  was  raised  from  the  dead,  who  is  at 
the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  intercession 
for  us."  He  who  loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us 
ever  liveth  to  accomplish  the  objects  for  which  he  died ; 
as  the  mediatorial  priest,  he  is  ever  interceding  for  the 
salvation  of  them  that  come  unto  God  through  him ;  as 
the  mediatorial  king,  having  all  authority  given  unto 
him  in  heaven  and  earth,  he  controls  all  things  so  as  to 
carry  forward  to  completion  the  work  of  their  salva- 
tion. 

My  brethren,  it  is  just  such  a  Saviour  that  we  need. 
From  the  first  moment  when  we  approach  God  through 
him,  onward  through  life,  and  in  a  certain  just  sense 
onward  without  end,  we  continually  need  God's  mercy 
and  grace  for  the  Saviour's  sake.  If  we  dwell  on  this, 
we  shall  be  better  prepared  to  rejoice  that  our  great 
High  Priest  ever  lives  to  intercede  for  us,  and  thus  can 
complete  our  salvation. 

1.  We  are  tempted.  And  what  hope  have  we  of  con- 
quering temptation,  save  "through  him  that  loved  us?" 
Remember  what  our  Lord  said  to   his  disciples,  with 


74  HE   EVER   LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE. 

regard  to  the  sore  temptations  that  would  soon  befall 
them  :  "  Simon,  Simon,  behold,  Satan  asked  to  have  you, 
that  he  might  sift  you  as  wheat ;  but  I  made  supplica- 
tion for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not/^  As  Satan  is  de- 
scribed as  seeking  permission  from  that  Sovereign 
Ruler,  without  whose  permission  all  his  might  and  his 
malice  are  powerless,  to  tempt  Job  with  peculiar  trials, 
in  the  hope  that  he  could  bring  him  to  renounce  the 
Lord,  so  here  as  to  the  disciples.  "  Satan  asked  to  have 
you '^ — and  the  term,  as  well  as  the  connection,  shows 
that  he  was  permitted  to  have  them,  '^  that  he  might  sift 
you  as  wheat/^  Jesus  himself  is  represented  by  John 
the  Baptist  as  engaged  in  a  similar  process :  *' Whose 
fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  cleanse  his 
threshing-floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner  ; 
but  he  will  burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire/' 
But  how  different  is  the  object  in  the  two  cases !  Satan 
sifts  with  the  hope  of  showing  that  all  is  really  worth- 
less, fit  only  for  destruction.  Jesus  sifts  in  order  to 
separate  the  precious  from  the  vile,  and  preserve  the 
pure  wheat  for  the  garner  of  heaven.  And  often  what 
Satan  meant  as  a  sifting  for  evil  is  overruled  by  the 
stronger  power  so  as  to  be  for  good. 

How  was  it  with  Peter?  The  Saviour  said  :  "But 
I  made  supplication  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not ; '' 
and  though  his  faith  mournfully  gave  way,  it  did  not 
utterly  give  out.  I  am  not  excusing  Peter  at  all.  We 
may  be  sure  he  never  forgave  himself  It  was  a  sad  and 
shameful  fall ;  but  Jesus  had  made  supplication  for  him  ; 
and  how  different  the  result  in  his  case  from  that  of 
Judas.     He,  too,  was  one  of  those  whom  Satan  obtained 


HE    EVER   IJVETH   TO    INTERCEDE.  75 

to  sift  them,  and  the  result  proved  him  to  be  ail  that 
Scitun  could  wish.  When  he  saw  the  consequences  of  his 
horrid  crime,  and  had  time  to  reflect  upon  it,  he  was 
sorry ;  but  it  was  not  the  tender  grief  of  a  truly  penitent 
heart  which  would  have  brought  him  back  with  humble 
submission — it  was  the  sorrow  of  the  world  that  worketh 
death — it  was  remorse  that  drove  him  headlong  into 
self-destruction.  But  Peter — when  the  cock  crowed 
after  his  third  denial  of  his  Lord  and  that  injured  one 
turned  and  looked  upon  him — Peter  went  out  and  wept 
bitterly,  with  the  sorrow  ^'  that  worketh  repentance  unto 
salvation,'^  the  sorrow  of  a  deeply  humble  and  really 
loving  heart.  There  was  a  great  change  from  that  time 
in  Peter,  for  the  Lord  had  prayed  for  him,  and  Divine 
grace  not  only  preserved  him  from  utter  spiritual  ruin, 
but  overruled  his  own  dreadful  wickedness  to  his 
spiritual  good. 

Observe  with  what  special  emphasis  the  Saviour's  in- 
tercession for  the  tempted  is  spoken  of  in  this  Epistle. 
The  persons  therein  addressed  were,  as  we  have  seen, 
peculiarly  and  sorely  tempted — tempted  even  to  forsake 
Christianity,  through  which  alone  they  could  find  salva- 
tion ;  apart  from  which  "  there  remaineth  no  more  sac- 
rifice for  sins,  but  a  certain  fearful  expectation  of  judg- 
ment and  a  fierceness  of  fire  which  shall  devour  the  ad- 
versary.'^  The  Jewish  high  priest,  being  taken  from 
among  men,  ^'  could  bear  gently  with  the  ignorant  and 
erring,  for  that  he  himself  also  was  compassed  with  in- 
firmity.^' So  our  great  High  Priest  took  upon  him  human 
nature  partly  for  this  very  reason,  that  he  might  sympa- 
thize with  the  tempted,  and  that  we  might  feel  sure  he 


76  HE   EVER   LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE. 

does  sympathize.  "  Wherefore  in  all  things  it  behooved 
him  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren,  that  he  might  be 
a  merciful  and  faithful  High  Priest  in  things  pertaining 
to  God,  to  make  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  people. 
For  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered,  being  tempted,  he 
is  able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted.'^  And  it  is  be- 
cause of  his  atoning  sacrifice  and  sympathizing  inter- 
cession that  we  are  urged  to  hold  fast  our  profession  as 
Christians,  and  encouraged  to  come  to  God  with  entire 
confidence.  This  is  done  in  words  that  have  been  very 
dear  to  tempted  hearts  in  every  age  since  the  holy  man 
of  God  spake  them  as  he  was  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
"  Having,  then,  a  great  High  Priest  who  hath  passed 
through  the  heavens,  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  let  us  hold 
fast  our  confession.  For  we  have  not  a  high  priest  that 
cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities;  but 
one  that  hath  been  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are, 
yet  without  sin.  Let  us  THEREFORE  draw  near  with 
boldness  unto  the  throne  of  grace  that  we  may  receive 
mercy,  and  may  find  grace  to  help  us  in  time  of 
need." 

Ah  !  mighty,  to  the  most  favored,  are  the  temptations 
of  life.  Many  belong  to  all  periods  ;  others  mark  some 
special  season.  Many  are  "  common  to  man  ;  '^  others 
belong  to  some  particular  condition  or  calling.  "  The 
heart  knoweth  its  own  bitterness  ; "  yea,  and  its  own 
trials,  and  its  own  weakness.  Be  this  our  support — our 
Saviour  lives,  he  sympathizes  with  us,  he  intercedes 
for  us ;  let  us  draw  near  unto  God  through  him,  unto 
God  who  has  said,  "  As  thy  days,  so  shall  thy 
strength  be.'' 


HE   EVER   LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE.  77 

"  The  soul  that  on  Jesus  hath  leaned  for  repose, 
I  will  not,  I  will  not  desert  to  its  foes  ; 
That  soul,  though  all  hell  should  endeavor  to  shake, 
I'll  never,  no  never,  no  never  forsake." 

2.  But  many  times,  sad  as  is  the  confession,  we  yield 
to  temptation,  we  sin  ;  and  *'  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it 
shall  die.'^  Must  we  then  despair  ?  Must  the  hopes 
we  had  cherished  be  abandoned,  and  this  new  sin  be  the 
terror  of  our  souls  ?  Listen  !  The  apostle  John  wrote  an 
Epistle  for  the  express  purpose  of  restraining  his  breth- 
ren from  sin  ;  yet  he  does  not  cut  off  those  who  are  con- 
scious they  have  sinned  from  the  hope  of  forgiveness  and 
salvation.  He  says:  "My  little  children,  these  things 
write  I  unto  you,  that  ye  may  not  sin.  And  if  any  man 
sin,  we  have  an  Advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ, 
the  righteous  ;  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins ; 
and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  whole  world." 
Now  we  know  what  an  advocate  was,  according  to  the 
usages  of  the  Roman  law,  and  is  among  ourselves,  viz.: 
one  who  undertakes  the  management  of  another^s  case  in 
court,  and  pleads  his  cause.  So  Jesus  is  our  Advocate 
with  the  Father.  But,  as  in  other  cases  where  spiritual 
things  are  illustrated  by  temporal,  the  analogy  is  not 
perfect ;  there  are  differences.  Our  advocate  does  not 
argue  that  we  are  innocent,  but  confessing  our  guilt, 
pleads  for  mercy  to  us  ;  and  he  does  not  present  our 
merits  as  a  reason  why  mercy  should  be  shown  us,  but 
his  merits.  "  He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  His 
atoning  death  does,  as  it  were,  render  God  propitious,  or 
favorable  to  sinners.  Not  that  God  is  unwilling  to  show 
favor  to  poor  sinners,  ajid  only  prevailed  on  to  do  so  by 


78  HE   EVER   LIVETH    TO   INTERCEDE. 

the  death  and  intercession  of  his  Son.  Oh  no  !  far  from 
it.  "  Herein  is  love,"  says  John  in  the  same  Epistle, 
"  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent 
his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.''  It  was  be- 
cause God  loved  us,  and  wanted  us  to  be  saved,  that  he 
devised  this  way  of  saving  us.  And  God  is  made  pro- 
pitious, favorable  to  us,  not  when  he  is  made  willing  to 
save,  but  when  it  is  made  right  that  he  should  save  us, 
and  therefore  we  need  not  die,  but  may  have  everlasting 
life.  Wlien  a  sinner  is  pardoned,  simply  for  the  sake  of 
the  atoning  and  interceding  Saviour,  there  is  in  that  no 
encouragement  to  God's  creatures  to  sin,  as  if  it  were  a 
little  thing  and  could  be  readily  passed  over,  but  a  most 
solemn  and  impressive  exhibition  of  the  dreadful  evil  of 
sin,  since  it  was  only  through  the  atonement  and  inter- 
cession of  the  only- begotten  Son  of  God  that  any  sinner 
could  be  forgiven — an  exhibition  at  once  of  God's  love 
to  the  perishing,  and  of  his  justice,  that  '^will  by  no 
means  clear  the  guilty." 

Bearing  in  mind  the  difference  between  the  pleading 
of  our  great  Advocate  and  any  parallel  which  human 
affairs  presents,  we  may  look  at  a  story  of  Grecian  his- 
tory, which  has  been  often  used  to  illustrate  the  Sav- 
iour's intercession.  The  poet  ^schylus  had  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  the  Athenians.  He  was  on  trial  be- 
fore the  great  popular  tribunal,  consisting  of  many  hun- 
dreds of  citizens,  and  was  about  to  be  condemned.  But 
^schylus  had  a  brother,  who  had  lost  an  arm  in  battle 
— in  the  great  battle  of  Salamis,  where  the  Greeks 
fought  for  their  existence  against  the  Persian  aggressors. 
This  brother  came  into  the  court,  and  did  not  speak 


HE   EVER    LIVETII    TO    INTERCEDE.  79 

words  of  entreaty,  but  letting  fall  his  mantle,  he  showed 
the  stump  of  his  arm,  lost  in  his  country's  defense,  and 
there  stood  until  the  Athenians  relented,  and  ^schylus 
was  suffered  to  go  free.  So,  my  brethren,  imperfect  and 
unworthy  as  is  the  illustration,  so  we  may  conceive  that 
when  we  are  about  to  be  condemned,  and  justly  con- 
demned for  our  sins,  our  glorious  Brother  stands  up  in 
our  behalf,  and  does  not  need  to  speak  a  word,  but  only 
to  show  where  he  was  wounded  on  the  cross — 

"  Five  bleeding  wounds  he  bears, 

Received  on  Calvary  ; 
They  pour  effectual  prayers, 

They  strongly  speak  for  me  ; 
'Forgive  him,  O  forgive,'  they  cry, 
*Nor  let  that  ransomed  sinner  die!'" 

Here,  then,  is  hope  for  us.  "  If  any  man  sin,''  much 
as  he  ought  to  deplore  it,  he  need  not  despair.  Our 
Advocate  with  the  Father  ever  liveth  to  make  interces- 
sion for  them  that  come  unto  God  through  him,  and 
through  him  we  may  find  mercy.  And  here  is  no  en- 
couragement to  sin,  but  the  very  contrary.  If  we  truly 
trust  in,  truly  love  our  interceding  Lord,  we  shall  be 
supremely  anxious  for  his  dear  sake  to  turn  from  sin, 
to  live  for  him  who  died  for  us  ;  yea,  who  ever  lives  as 
our  Saviour. 

3.  This  suggests  another  respect  in  vv^hich  is  seen  our 
need  of  our  Lord's  perpetual  intercession.  We  make 
such  slow  progress  in  attaining  holiness — holiness,  which 
is  the  noblest  thing  men  can  aspire  to — holiness,  "  with- 
out which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.''  Many  a  Chris- 
tian, as  he   sorrowfully  sees   how   often  he   yields  to 


80  HE   EVER   LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE. 

temptation,  how  his  character  breaks  down  afresh  where 
he  thought  it  had  grown  most  firm,  is  at  times  inclined 
to  think  it  impossible  that  he  should  ever  become  really 
holy.  But  remember  how  Jesus  prayed  the  night  be- 
fore his  atoning  death,  "  Sanctify  them  in  the  truth  ; 
thy  word  is  truth."  ^'  I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldest 
take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou  shouldest 
keep  them  from  the  evil."  Think  you  that  he,  who  ever 
lives  to  intercede  for  his  people,  does  not  still  pray  this 
prayer,  that  they  may  be  sanctified  and  kept  from  the 
evil  ?  Do  you  doubt  that  he  prays  for  them  still,  as  he 
did  when  on  earth  ?  His  people's  wants  have  not 
changed,  and  as  for  him,  he  is  "  the  same  yesterday 
and  to-day  and  forever."  Find  me  a  young  man  far 
from  his  home  whose  mother  used  to  pray  for  him 
when  they  wxre  together,  and  try  to  make  him  believe 
that  she  does  not  pray  for  him  still.  "  No,  no,"  he 
would  say,  "if  she  is  living,  she  prays  for  me." 
Brethren,  he  who  prays  for  us  "  ever  lives."  When 
the  Jews  gathered  at  the  temple  on  the  great  day  of 
atonement,  and  the  high  priest  went  into  the  holy  of 
holies  to  pray  for  the  people  and  himself,  did  the  people 
doubt  whether  he  was  praying  ?  Why,  for  that  very 
purpose  he  had  withdrawn  from  their  view.  So  for 
that  very  purpose  our  High  Priest  has  entered  "  not 
into  a  holy  place  made  with  hands,  like  in  pattern  to 
the  true,  but  into  heaven  itself,  nowto  appear  before  the 
face  of  God  for  us."  And  do  not  say  that  the  Jewish 
high  priest  was  absent  but  a  few  minutes,  while  it  is 
long  since  Jesus  went  away.  On  the  scale  of  the  ages 
it  is  but  a  little  while  since  he  entered  the  heavenly 


HE   EVER    LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE.  81 

sanctuary,  having  "  been  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of 
many/^  and  any  moment  he  may  "  appear  a  second 
time  apart  from  sin  unto  salvation."  Let  us  be  sure 
that  while  absent  he  perpetually  carries  on  his  work 
of  intercession. 

Think  of  him,  then,  as  still  praying,  "  Sanctify  them 
in  the  truth.  Keep  them  from  the  evil.''  In  all  our 
disheartening  failures  to  keep  good  resolutions,  even 
when  we  may  be  tempted  to  think  it  scarce  worth  while 
for  us  to  try  to  be  holy,  let  us  remember  that  Jesus 
prays  for  us,  and,  "  forgetting  the  things  which  are  be- 
hind, and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are 
before,  let  us  press  toward  the  mark."  Ah  !  brethren, 
though  it  might  often  seem  to  us  the  bitterest  irony  now 
for  a  man  to  call  you  and  me  the  saints  of  the  Lord, 
yet,  if  indeed  we  are  in  Christ,  and  thus  are  new  crea- 
tures, we  have  but  to  trust  in  his  intercession  for  the 
sanctifying  Spirit,  and  earnestly  strive  to  "  grow  in 
grace,"  and  we  shall  make  progress  ;  yea,  sadly  imper- 
fect as  is  now  our  conformity  to  the  Saviour's  beautiful 
image,  "we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear  we  shall 
be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  O  burdened 
spirit,  crying,  "  Wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  de- 
liver me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  "  be  sure  to  add, 
"  I  thank  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  The  Sa- 
viour will  continue  to  intercede,  the  Spirit  will  help  your 
infirmities,  and  you  shall  at  last  be  pure  from  sin,  and 
safe  from  temptation  to  sin,  a  saint  of  the  Lord  forever. 

4.  When  we  are  in  sorrow  it  is  a  blessed  thing  that 
Jesus  ever  lives  to  pray  for  us.  He  was  himself  while 
on  earth,  "a  man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief." 
6 


82  HE   EVER   LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE. 

And  he  showed  the  truest,  tenderest  sympathy  with 
the  sorrows  of  others.  Who  does  not  think  at  once  of 
that  touching  scene  at  Bethany  ?  "  Jesus  wept/'  in 
affection  for  the  departed,  in  sympathy  with  the  be- 
reaved. And  presently,  standing  by  the  tomb,  he  said, 
"  Father,  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  heard  me.''  Then 
he  had  been  praying,  asking  that  he  might  be  able  to 
raise  Lazarus  from  the  dead.  We  do  not  expect  him 
now  to  pray  that  miracles  may  be  wrought  in  behalf  of 
the  bereaved.  We  do  not  expect  him  now  to  give  back 
the  buried  brother  to  his  sisters,  or  to  the  widowed 
mother  her  only  son.  But  shall  it  not  be  a  consolation 
to  us  all  in  our  afflictions,  to  feel  assured  that  he  now 
intercedes  for  us  ;  that  now,  too,  the  Father  hears  him, 
and  that  by  the  gracious  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  Comforter,  this  affliction  shall  work  for  us  glory  ? 
And  though  we  cannot  now  see  his  tears,  nor  hear  his 
loving  voice,  as  did  the  mourners  at  Bethany,  neither  do 
we  need  to  send  a  messenger  many  miles,  and  wait,  day 
after  day,  and  go  forth  into  the  suburbs  to  meet  him ; 
he  is  everywhere  alike  near,  and  ever  ready  to  pray  for  us 
to  his  Father  and  our  Father,  to  his  God  and  our  God. 
5.  When  we  come  to  die — ^he  is  "  alive  forevermore." 
One  of  his  servants,  when  near  to  death,  saw  "  heaven 
opened,  and  the  Son  of  Man  standing  on  the  right  hand 
of  God,"  where  he  represents  and  intercedes  for  his  peo- 
ple. And  so  in  departing  he  committed  his  spirit  to 
him,  as  now  oxaUed  and  glorious,  and  ready  to  receive 
it.  And  so,  amid  all  the  cruel  injustice  and  suffering, 
he  was  cjihii  and  forgiving.  And  so,  though  they  were 
stoning  him  to  death,  ^'  he  fell  asleep."     O,  whenever 


HE   EVER  LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE.  83 

you  are  called  to  die,  brother,  and  however,  whether 
among  loving  friends  in  your  pleasant  home,  or  far  away 
in  loneliness  and  want,  whether  with  ample  forewarning 
or  in  the  suddenness  of  a  moment,  think  of  your  inter- 
ceding Saviour  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  and 
say,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit,'^  and  you  too  shall 
fall  asleep. 

6.  Even  this  is  not  the  end  of  his  work  for  his  peo- 
ple. There  shall  be  a  "  redemption  of  the  body."  Many 
have  been  sad  in  the  last  twenty  years,  because  the 
bodies  of  their  loved  ones  lie  so  far  away,  lie  perhaps 
undistinguished  among  the  huge  masses  of  the  unnamed 
dead.  But  he  who  receives  the  departing  spirit  to  him- 
self will  also  care  for  the  mouldering  body.  His  resur- 
rection is  a  pledge  of  the  glorious  resurrection  of  his 
people.  "  If  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again, 
even  so  them  also  who  through  Jesus  have  fallen  asleep, 
will  God  bring  with  him."  "  Who  shall  fashion  anew 
the  body  of  our  humiliation,  that  it  may  be  conformed 
to  the  body  of  his  glory."  Then,  the  spirit  reunited 
with  the  risen  and  glorified  body,  ^'  so  shall  we  ever  be 
with  the  Lord." 

And  he  ivho  saved  them  will  be  ever  living  to  keep  them 
safe,  unto  all  eternity. 

My  friends,  how  shall  we  think  of  Jesus  ?  What 
conception  shall  we  cherish  of  him  whom,  "  having  not 
seen,  we  love,"  who  ever  liveth  to  intercede  for  us? 
INfany  centuries  ago,  on  the  eastern  slope  of  ]\Iount 
Olivet,  towards  Bethany,  twelve  men  stood  together,  one 
talking  to  the  others.  Presently  he  lifted  up  his  hands 
and  blessed  them ;  and  with  hands  still  uplifted,  and 


84  HE   EVER   LIVETH   TO   INTERCEDE. 

words  of  blessing  still  lingering  on  his  lips,  he  was 
parted  from  them  and  rose  toward  heaven,  till  a  cloud 
received  him  out  of  their  sight.  Years  passed,  and  one 
of  the  eleven  was  an  exile  on  a  lonely  island.  It  was 
the  Lord\s  day,  and  he  was  in  the  Spirit.  Hearing  be- 
hind him  a  mighty  voice  that  seemed  to  call  him,  he 
turned,  and  lo  !  one  like  unto  the  Son  of  Man — it  was 
the  Saviour  who  had  been  parted  from  him  long  years 
before.  He  was  arrayed  in  robes  of  majesty,  and  girt 
about  with  a  golden  girdle ;  his  whole  head  shone  white 
as  snow  with  celestial  glory ;  his  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of 
fire ;  and  his  feet  like  unto  burnished  brass,  as  if  it  had 
been  refined  in  a  furnace ;  and  his  voice  as  the  voice  of 
many  waters ;  and  his  countenance  as  the  sun  shineth 
in  his  strength.  Yes,  the  feet  that  once  wearily  trod  the 
dusty  roads  of  Judea  now  shone  like  molten  brass. 
The  eyes  that  were  full  of  tears  as  he  gazed  upon 
doomed  Jerusalem  now  gleamed  as  a  flame  of  fire.  The 
countenance  that  writhed  in  agony  as  he  lay  prostrate 
on  his  face  in  the  garden,  that  was  streaked  with  the 
blood  that  fell  from  his  thorn-pierced  brow,  was  now  as 
the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength.  And  the  voice  as  the 
voice  of  many  waters — it  was  the  same  voice  that  in 
gentleness  and  love  had  so  often  encouraged  the  sinful 
and  sorrowing  to  draw  near — it  is  the  same  voice  that 
now  calls  us  to  come  unto  God  through  him,  and  de- 
clares that  he  is  able  to  save  us  completely,  since  he 
ever  lives  to  intercede  for  us.  O,  my  hearer,  slight  all 
the  sounds  of  earth,  all  the  voices  of  the  universe ;  be 
deaf  to  the  thunder's  mighty  tones,  and  stand  careless 
amid  '^the  wreck  of  matter  and  the  crush  of  worlds'' — 
but  O,  slight  not  the  loving  voice  of  Jesus. 


VI. 

LET  US  HAVE  PEACE  WITH  GOD. 

Therefore  being  justified  by  faith,  let  us  have  peace  with  God,  through  ouf 
Lord  Jesv^  Christ. — Eomans  5 :  1. 

IT  is  nearly  four  centuries  ago  now,  that  a  young  pro- 
fessor from  the  north  of  Germany  went  to  Rome.  He 
was  a  man  of  considerable  learning  and  versatile  mind. 
Yet  he  did  not  go  to  Rome  to  survey  the  remains  of  an- 
tiquity or  the  treasures  of  modern  art.  He  went  to  Rome 
because  he  was  in  trouble  about  his  sins  and  could  find 
no  peace.  Having  been  educated  to  regard  Rome  as  the 
centre  of  the  Christian  world,  he  thought  he  would  go 
to  the  heart  of  things  and  see  what  he  could  there  find. 
He  had  reflected  somewhat  at  home,  and  had  talked 
with  other  men  more  advanced  than  himself,  on  the 
thought  that  the  just  shall  live  by  faith;  but  still  that 
thought  had  never  taken  hold  of  him.  We  read — some 
of  you  remember  the  story  quite  well — how  one  day,  ac- 
cording to  the  strange  ideas  that  prevailed  and  still  pre- 
vail at  Rome,  he  went  climbing  up  a  stairway  on  his 
knees,  pausing  to  pray  on  every  step,  to  see  if  that  would 
not  help  him  about  his  sins.  Then,  as  he  climbed  slowly 
up,  he  seemed  to  hear  a  voice  echoing  down  the  stairway, 
"  The  just  shall  live  by  faith  ;  the  just  shall  live  by 
faith.'*  And  so  he  left  alone  his  dead  works,  he  arose 
from  his  knees  and  went  down  the  stairway  to  his  home 

85 


86  LET   US   HAVE   PEACE   WITH    GOD. 

to  think  about  that  great  saying:  "The  just  shall  live 
by  iaith.'^ 

It  is  no  wonder  that  with  such  an  experience,  and  such 
a  nature,  Martin  Luther  should  have  lived  to  shake  the 
Christian  world  with  the  thought  that  justification  by 
faith  is  the  great  doctrine  of  Christianity,  "  the  article 
of  a  standing  or  a  falling  church/'  It  is  no  wonder  that 
John  Wesley,  rising  up  with  living  earnestness,  when 
England  was  covered  with  a  pall  of  spiritual  death,  should 
have  revived  the  same  thought — justification  by  faith. 

Yet  it  is  not  true  that  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith  is  all  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  true  that  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  is  simply  one  of  the  several 
w^ays  by  which  the  Gospel  takes  hold  of  men.  You  do 
not  hear  anything  of  that  doctrine  in  the  Epistles  of 
John.  He  has  another  way  of  presenting  the  Gospel 
salvation,  namely,  that  we  must  love  Christ,  and  be  like 
him,  and  obey  him.  I  think  sometimes  that  Martin 
Luther  made  the  world  somewhat  one-sided  by  his  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith  ;  that  the  great  mass  of  the 
Protestant  world  are  inclined  to  suppose  there  is  no  oth- 
er way  of  looking  on  the  Gospel.  There  are  very  like- 
ly some  here  to-day  who  would  be  more  impressed  by 
John\s  way  of  presenting  the  matter;  but  probably  the 
majority  would  be  more  impressed  by  PauFs  "way,  and 
it  is  our  business  to  present  now  this  and  now  that,  to 
present  first  one  side  and  then  the  other.  So  we  have 
liere  before  us  to-day  Paul's  great  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  in  perhaps  one  of  his  most  striking  state- 
ments, "Therefore,  being  justified  by  faith,  let  us  have 
peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


LET   US    HAVE   PEACE   WITH   GOD.  87 

My  friends,  we  talk  and  hear  about  these  Gospel 
truths,  and  repeat  these  Scripture  words,  and  never  stop 
to  ask  ourselves  whether  we  have  a  clear  idea  of  what 
is  meant.  What  does  Paul  mean,  when  he  talks  about 
being  justified?  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  misap- 
prehension as  to  his  meaning.  Martin  Luther  was  all 
wrong  in  his  early  life,  because  he  had  been  reared  up  in 
the  idea  that  a  justified  man  means  simply  a  just  man,  a 
good  man,  and  that  he  could  not  account  himself  justified 
or  hope  for  salvation  until  he  was  a  thoroughly  good  man. 
Now,  the  Latin  word  from  which  we  borrow  our  word 
'^justified"  does  mean  to  maize  just,  and  as  the  Koraan- 
ists  use  the  Latin,  their  error  is  natural.  But  Paul's 
Greek  word  means  not  to  make  just,  but  to  regard  as  just, 
to  treat  as  just.  That  is  a  very  important  difference, — 
not  to  make  just,  but  to  regard  and  treat  as  just.  How 
would  God  treat  you,  if  you  were  a  righteous  man  ;  if 
you  had,  through  all  your  life,  faithfully  performed  all 
your  duties,  conforming  to  all  your  relations  to  your 
fellow- beings, — how  would  he  regard  you  and  treat  you? 
He  would  look  upon  you  with  complacency.  He  would 
smile  on  you  as  one  that  was  in  his  sight  pleasing. 
He  would  bless  you  as  long  as  you  lived  in  this 
world,  and,  when  you  were  done  with  this  world,  he 
would  delight  to  take  you  home  to  his  bosom,  in 
another  world,  because  you  would  deserve  it.  And  now 
as  God  would  treat  a  man  who  was  just  because  he  de- 
served it,  so  the  Gospel  proposes  to  treat  men  who  are 
not  just  and  who  do  not  deserve  it,  if  they  believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  will  treat  them  as  just,  though 
they  are  not  just,  if  they  believe  in  Christ ;  that  is  to  say. 


88  LET   US   HAVE   PEACE   WITH   GOD. 

he  will  look  upon  them  with  his  favor;  he  will  smile 
upon  them  in  his  love ;  he  will  bless  them  with  every 
good  as  long  as  they  live,  and  when  they  die  he  will 
delight  to  take  them  home  to  his  own  bosom,  though 
they  never  deserved  it,  through  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ. 
That  is  what  Paul  means  by  justification.  And  when 
Martin  Luther  found  that  out  he  found  peace.  This 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  had  always  stopped  his  progress 
when  reading  the  New  Testament.  He  would  read,  in 
the  Latin  version,  ^' For  therein  is  revealed  the  justice  of 
God,"  and  he  felt  in  his  heart  that  God's  justice  must 
condemn  him.  But  now  he  came  to  see  what  was  really 
meant  by  the  righteousness  of  God,  the  righteousness 
which  God  provides  and  bestows  on  the  believer  in  Je- 
sus. A  sinful  man,  an  undeserving  man,  may  get  God 
Almighty's  forgiveness  and  favor  and  love,  may  be  re- 
garded with  complacency  and  delight,  though  he  does 
not  deserve  it,  if  he  believes  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
That  is  justification  by  faith. 

It  is  one  thing  to  take  hold  of  this  matter  in  the  way 
of  doctrinal  conception  and  expression,  and  of  course, 
God  be  thanked  !  it  is  another  thing  to  receive  it  in  the 
heart.  There  are  many  people  who  get  hold  of  it  all  in 
the  heart  with  trust  and  peace  that  never  have  a  correct 
conception  of  it  as  a  doctrine.  Yet  I  suppose  it  is  worth 
while  that  we  should  endeavor  to  see  these  things  clear- 
ly. Other  things  being  equal,  they  will  be  the  holiest 
and  most  useful  Christians  who  have  the  clearest  per- 
ception of  the  great  facts  and  truths  of  the  Gospel.  So 
I  recommend  to  you  that  whenever  any  one  tries  to  ex- 
plain to  you   one  of  these  great  doctrinal  truths,  you 


LET   US   HAVE    PEACE   WITH   GOD.  89 

shall  listen  with  fixed  attention  and  see  if  you  cannot 
get  a  clearer  view  of  the  Gospel  teachings  on  that  subject, 
for  it  will  do  you  good. 

Now  let  us  come  to  the  second  thought  here,  viz. : 
being  justified  by  faith,  A  man  might  say,  if  God  pro- 
poses to  deal  with  those  who  are  not  just,  as  if  they  were, 
why  does  he  condition  it  upon  their  believing  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ?  Why  cannot  God  proclaim  a 
universal  amnesty  at  once,  and  be  done  with  it,  to  all 
his  sinful,  weak  children,  and  treat  them  all  as  if  they 
were  just,  without  their  believing  ?  I  don't  think  this  is 
hard  to  see.  God  does  not  merely  propose  to  deal  with 
us  for  the  time  being  as  if  we  were  just,  but  he  proposes 
in  the  end  to  make  us  actually  just.  It  would  be  an  un- 
satisfactory salvation  to  a  right-minded  man  if  God 
proposed  merely  to  exempt  us  from  the  consequences  of 
our  sins  and  not  to  deliver  us  from  our  sins.  You  do 
not  want  merely  to  escape  punishment  for  sin  without 
ever  becoming  good ;  you  want  to  be  righteous  and  holy; 
you  want  to  be  delivered  from  sin  itself  as  well  as  from 
the  consequences  of  sin.  And  this  Gospel,  which  begins 
by  its  proclamation  that  God  is  willing  to  treat  men  as 
just,  although  they  are  not  just,  does  not  stop  there.  It 
proposes  to  be  the  means  by  which  God  will  take  hold 
of  men's  characters  and  make  them  just,  make  them 
holy.  You  may,  for  the  moment,  conceive  of  such  a 
thing  as  that  God  should  make  a  proclamation  of 
universal  amnesty,  and  treat  all  men  as  if  they  were 
just ;  but  that  would  not  make  them  any  better.  The 
Gospel  is  not  merely  to  deliver  us  from  the  consequences 
of  sin,  but  to  deliver  us  from  the  power  of  sin.     You 


90  LET  US  HAVE  PEACE  WITH  GOD. 

can  conceive  of  an  amnesty  as  to  the  consequences  of  sin, 
which  should  extend  to  persons  that  will  not  even 
believe  there  is  such  an  amnesty ;  but  you  cannot  see 
how  the  Gospel  is  to  have  any  power  in  delivering  us 
from  the  dominion  of  sin,  unless  we  believe  the  Gospel. 
It  can  do  so  only  through  belief.  Therefore  it  is  not 
possible  that  a  man  should  be  justified  without  belief. 
I  think  it  is  useful  that  we  should  thus  try  to  see  that 
this  is  not  a  matter  of  mere  arbitrary  appointment  on 
the  part  of  the  Sovereign  Power  of  the  Universe,  but 
that  the  condition  is  necessary — that  it  cannot  be  other- 
wise. "  Being  justified  by  faith,"  it  reads  ;  and  we  can- 
not be  justified  without  faith,  because  the  same  Gospel  is 
also  to  take  hold  of  us  and  make  us  just. 

And  now,  some  one  who  feels  a  little  freshened  inter- 
est in  this  subject,  some  man  who  has  never  got  hold  of 
the  Gospel  faith  says  to  himself:  "I  wonder  if  the 
preacher  is  going  to  explain  to  me  what  believing  is, 
what  faith  is.  I  never  heard  any  one  succeed  in  explain  - 
ing  faith."  Well,  if  you  will  pardon  me,  the  best  ex- 
planation of  faith  I  ever  heard  was  given  by  a  negro 
preacher  in  Virginia.  As  the  story  was  told  me,  one 
Sunday  afternoon,  a  few  years  ago,  some  of  them  were 
lying  on  the  ground  together,  and  one  of  them  spoke  and 
said,  "  Uncle  Eeuben,  can  you  explain  this  :  Faith  in  de 
Lord,  and  faith  in  dedebbil."  '^To  be  sure  I  can.  There 
is  two  things :  in  de  fust  place,  faith  in  de  Lord,  and  then 
faith  in  de  debbil.  Now,  in  the  fust  place,  fustly,  there 
is  faith.  What  is  faith  ?  What  is  faith  ?  Why,  faith 
is  jes  faith.  Faith  ain't  nothing  less  than  faith.  Faith 
ain't  nothing  more  than  faith.     Faith  is  jes  faith — now 


LET   US   HAVE   PEACE   WITH   GOD.  91 

I  done  splain  it."  Really,  that  man  was  right,  there  is 
nothing  to  explain.  Faith  is  as  simple  a  conception  as 
the  human  mind  can  have.  How,  then,  can  you  explain 
faith  ?  You  are  neither  able  to  analyze  it  into  parts, 
nor  can  you  find  anything  simpler  with  which  to  com- 
pare it.  So  also  as  to  some  other  things,  tliat  are  per- 
fectly easy  and  natural  in  practical  exercise,  and  cannot 
be  explained.  What  is  love  ?  Well,  I  won't  go  into  an 
elaborate  metaphysical  definition  of  love,  but  if  I 
wanted  a  child  to  love  me,  I  should  try  to  exhibit  my- 
self in  such  a  character  to  him  and  act  in  such  ways  that 
the  little  child  would  see  in  me  something  to  love,  and 
would  feel  like  loving.  There  would  then  be  no  need 
of  an  explanation  of  what  love  is  Did  you  ever  hear 
a  satisfactory  definition  of  laughter  ?  If  you  wanted  to 
make  a  man  laugh,  would  you  attempt  to  define  laughter 
to  him?  You  might  possibly  succeed  in  making  a 
laughable  definition ;  but  otherwise  definitions  won't 
make  a  man  laugh.  You  would  simply  say  or  do  some- 
thing ludicrous,  and  he  would  laugh  readily  enough  if 
he  was  so  disposed  ;  and  if  the  man  be  not  in  a  mood 
for  laughing,  all  your  explanations  are  utterly  useless. 
And  so  what  is  faith  ?  There  is  nothing  to  explain. 
Everybody  knows  what  faith  is.  If  you  want  to  induce 
a  man  to  believe  in  the  Ijord  Jesus  Christ,  you  must 
hold  up  the  Lord  to  him  in  his  true  character,  and 
then,  if  he  is  in  a  mood  to  believe,  he  will  believe,  and 
if  he  is  disinclined  to  belief,  all  your  explanations  w^ill 
be  fruitless.  The  practical  result  may  even  be  ob- 
structed by  attempts  to  explain.  What  is  faith  ?  You 
know  what  faith  is.     Every  one  knows. 


92  LET   US   HAVE    PEACE   WITH   GOD. 

Well,  then,  a  man  might  say,  "  If  you  mean  by  faith 
in  the  Lord,  the  simple  idea  of  believing  what  the 
Scripture  says  concerning  him,  the  idea  of  believing  its 
teachings  about  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be  true,  if  that 
is  what  faith  means,  then  all  of  us  are  believers,  all  have 
faith.'^  I  am  afraid  not.  I  am  afraid  there  are  some 
here  who  have  not  faith.  Has  a  man  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  who  simply  does  not  disbelieve  in  him? 
I  may  not  deny  that  what  the  Gospel  says  is  true,  but 
is  that  believing  ?  Yonder  sits  a  gentleman  ;  suppose 
some  one  should  come  hastily  up  the  aisle,  calling  his 
name,  and  say,  ^^  Your  house  is  afire.''  The  gentleman 
sits  perfectly  quiet  and  looks  unconcerned,  as  people  so 
often  do  when  listening  to  preaching.  The  man  repeats 
it:  "I  say  your  house  is  afire.''  But  still  he  sits  in  his 
place.  Some  one  near  him  says,  "  You  hear  what  that 
man  says.  Do  you  believe  it?"  "Yes,  I  believe  it," 
he  carelessly  replies,  and  does  not  stir.  You  would 
all  say,  '^  The  man  is  insane,  or  certainly  he  does  not 
believe  it ;  for  if  he  did,  he  would  not  sit  perfectly  still 
and  remain  perfectly  unconcerned."  Even  so  when  the 
preacher  speaks  of  sin  and  guilt  and  ruin,  of  God's 
wrath  and  the  fire  that  is  not  quenched ;  or  when  he 
stands  with  joyful  face  and  proclaims  to  his  hearers  that 
for  their  sin  and  ruin  there  is  a  Saviour ;  and  they  say 
they  believe,  and  yet  look  as  if  it  were  of  no  concern  to 
them  at  all,  at  all ;  then  I  say  they  do  not  believe  it — 
the  thing  is  not  possible.  They  may  not  disbelieve  it ; 
they  may  not  care  to  make  an  attempt  to  overturn  it ; 
tliey  may  be  in  a  sort  of  negative  mood  ;  but  they  do 
not  believe  it.    With  that  statement  I  suppose  there  are 


LET   US    HAVE   PEACE   WITH   GOD.  93 

a  great  many  of  us  who  concur  and  who  will  at  once 
say,  ^^  Often  I  fear  that  I  do  not  really  believe  it.  If  I 
did  believe  it,  the  Gospel  would  have  more  power  over 
my  heart  and  more  power  over  my  life  than  it  does  have. 
And  what,  oh,  what  shall  I  do  ?  '^  The  preacher  has  to 
remind  you  of  that  father  to  whom  the  Saviour  came 
when  the  disciples  had  tried  in  vain  to  heal  his  suffering 
child.  Jesus  said  to  him  :  "  All  things  are  possible  to  him 
that  believeth ;  '^  and  he  replied  :  "  I  believe  ;  help  thou 
my  unbelief^'  That  should  be  your  cry  :  '*  I  believe ; 
help  thou  my  unbelief.'^  The  man  would  not  deny  that 
he  believed,  and  yet  felt  bound  to  add  that  he  knew  he 
did  not  believe  as  he  ought  to.  Now  the  comfort  is,  that 
he  who  sees  all  hearts  accepted  that  man's  confessedly 
imperfect  faith,  and  granted  his  request.  That  has  often 
been  the  preacher's  comfort  as  he  uttered  the  same  cry, 
"I  believe;  help  thou  my  unbelief;"  and  God  give  it 
as  a  comfort  to  you  !  But  do  not  content  yourself  with 
such  a  state  of  things,  with  any  such  feeble,  half-way 
believing.  Nay,  let  us  cherish  all  that  tends  to  strengthen 
our  faith  in  the  Gospel ;  let  us  read  the  Word  of  God, 
praying  that  we  may  be  able  to  believe  ;  let  us  say  from 
day  to  day,  as  the  disciples  said  :  "  Lord,  increase  our 
faith." 

The  text  proceeds  :  "  Therefore,  being  justified  by 
faith,  let  us  have  peace  with  God."  Instead  of  the 
declaration,  ^^We  have  peace  with  God,"  the  best 
authorities  for  the  text  make  it  an  exhortation,  "  Let  us 
have  peace  with  God;''  and  so  the  Revised  Version 
reads.  Some  critics  admit  that  the  documents  require 
us  so  to  read,  but  say  that  they  can  see  no  propriety  in 


94  LET   US   HAVE   PEACE   WITH   GOD. 

an  exhortation  at  this  point — that  it  seems  much  more 
appropriate  to  understand  the  apostle  as  asserting  a  fact. 
Yet  I  think  we  can  see  meaning  and  fitness  in  the  text 
as  corrected:  "Being  justified  by  faith^  let  us  have 
peace  with  God.'' 

Let  us  have  peace  with  God,  notwithstanding  our 
unworthiness.  My  friends,  we  cannot  have  peace  with 
God  so  long  as  we  cling  to  the  notion  that  we  are  going 
to  deserve  it.  Just  there  is  the  difficulty  with  many  of 
those  who  are  trying  to  be  at  peace  with  God.  They 
have  been  clinging  to  the  thought  that  they  must  first 
become  worthy,  and  then  become  reconciled  to  God ;  and 
they  will  have  to  see  more  clearly  that  they  must  come 
to  Christ  in  order  that,  being  reconciled,  they  may  be 
made  good,  may  become  worthy.  We  may  say  there 
are  two  conceivable  ways  to  have  peace  Avith  God.  It 
is  conceivable  to  have  peace  with  God  through  our  wor- 
thiness, and  it  is  conceivable  and  also  practicable  to 
have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
though  we  be  unworthy.  Then  let  us  have  peace  with 
him,  although  so  unworth}^,  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

Again,  let  us  have  peace  with  God,  though  we  are 
still  sinful  and  unholy,  though  we  know  we  come  far 
short  in  character  and  in  life  of  what  God's  children 
ought  to  be.  We  must  be,  ought  to  be,  intensely  dis- 
satisfied with  ourselves ;  but  let  us  be  satisfied  with 
our  Saviour,  and  have  peace  with  God  through  him; 
not  content  with  the  idea  of  remaining  such  as  we  are, 
but,  seeing  that  the  same  Gospel  which  offers  us  forgive- 
ness and  acceptance  offers  us  also  a  genuine  renewal 


LET   US   HAVE   PEACE   WITH   GOD.  95 

through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  promises  that  finally 
we  shall  be  made  holy,  as  God  is  holy,  shall  indeed  be 
perfect,  as  our  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect.  Let  us  re- 
joice in  the  gracious  promise  of  that  perfect  life,  and, 
while  seeking  to  be  what  we  ought  to  be,  let  us  have 
peace  with  God.  Our  sanctijication  is  still  sadly  im- 
perfect— the  best  of  us  well  know  that,  and  probably 
the  best  of  us  feel  it  most  deeply ;  but,  if  we  believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  justification  is  perfect.  We 
can  never  be  more  justified  than  we  are  now  justified, 
though  we  shall  be  more  and  more  made  holy  as  long 
as  we  live,  and  at  last  made  perfectly  holy  as  we  pass 
into  the  perfect  world.  My  brethren,  do  think  more 
and  talk  more  of  that.  It  is  an  intensely  practical  mat- 
ter, not  only  for  your  comfort  but  for  the  strength  of 
your  life.  If  we  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
although  we  are  painfully  conscious  that  we  are  far  from 
being  in  character  and  life  what  we  ought  to  be,  yet, 
through  the  perfect  justification  which  we  have  at  once, 
we  shall  in  the  end  by  his  grace  be  made  perfectly  holy. 
Let  us  have  peace  with  God,  though  we  have  per- 
petual conflict  with  sin.  What  a  singular  idea  !  Peace 
with  God,  and  yet  conflict,  yes,  perpetual  conflict,  with 
a  thousand  forms  of  temptation  to  sin,  temptations 
springing  from  our  fellow-men,  and  temptations  spring- 
ing from  spiritual  tempters — perpetual  conflict,  and  yet 
peace  with  God.  Is  not  that  conceivable  ?  Is  not  that 
possible  ?  In  this  conflict  we  are  on  the  Lord's  side ;  in 
this  conflict  the  Lord  is  on  our  side ;  and  so,  though 
the  battle  must  be  waged  against  every  form  of  sin,  we 
may  have  peace  with  God. 


96  LET   US   HAVE   PEACE   WITH   GOD. 

And  finally,  let  us  have  peace  with  God  thouo;h  he 
leaves  us  to  sufffer  a  thousand  forms  of  distress  and  trial. 
"  Let  us  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  by  whom  also  we  have  had  our  access  by  faith 
into  this  grace  wherein  we  stand :  and  let  us  rejoice  in 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God.  And  not  only  so,  but  let  us 
also  rejoice  in  our  tribulations ;  knowing  that  tribulation 
worketh  patience ;  and  patience,  proving ;  and  proving, 
hope ;  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed,  because  the  love  ot 
God  hath  been  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  through  the 
Holy  Ghost  which  was  given  unto  us."  Surely  man  may 
have  peace  with  God,  though  he  be  left  to  suffer.  For 
none  of  these  things  can  separate  us  from  God's  love. 
Who  shall  separate  us  from  Christ's  love?  ''  For  I  am 
persuaded  that  neither  death  nor  life,  neither  angels  nor 
principalities  nor  powers,  neither  things  present  nor 
things  to  come,  neither  height  nor  depth,  nor  any  other 
creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  When  we  are  in 
trouble,  let  us  take  fast  hold  upon  that  great  thought,  that 
trouble  does  not  divide  us  from  the  love  of  God.  Yea^ 
God's  peace  can  conquer  trouble,  and  guard  us,  as  in  a 
fortress,  against  its  assaults.  "  In  nothing  be  anxious  ; 
but  in  everything,  by  prayer  and  supplication,  with 
thanksgiving,  let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto 
God.  And  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing, shall  guard  your  hearts  and  your  thoughts  in 
Christ  Jesus." 


VII. 

HOW  THE  GOSPEL  MAKES  MEN  HOLY. 

O  wretched  man  that  Iain!  who  shall  deliva-  me  out  ofthehody  of  this 
death  f  J  thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. — Rom.  7  :  24,  25. 

THE  language  is  intensely  passionate, — "  O  wretched 
man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body 
of  this  death  ? "  Then  with  the  sudden  transition  of 
passion,  "  I  thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.'^ 
"How  shall  I  be  good?"  is  a  question  that  used 
sometimes  to  rise  in  your  mind  when  you  were  a  child, 
sometimes  when  nobody  would  imagine  you  were  think- 
ing of  such  things  as  that.  "  How  shall  I  get  to  be 
good."  And  it  is  a  question  which,  amid  all  the  com- 
motion of  this  runaway  life  of  ours,  comes  back  to  us 
very  often,  comes  back  even  to  people  whom  you  would 
not  suppose  to  be  thinking  of  ^uch  things  at  all.  The 
grossly  wicked  men,  the  men  ^  ho  are  the  slaves  of  vice, 
many  of  them,  perhaps  all  of  them,  have  their  moments 
when  there  is  a  sort  of  longing  that  rises  in  their  souls 
to  be  good,  and  when  the  hope  rel  arns,  indestructible,  that 
somehow  or  other  they  will  get  to  be  good  after  all.  It 
became  a  sort  of  jest  a  few  years  ago,  I  know,  to  speak 
of  "  the  wickedest  man  in  'New  York,"  but  I  wonder 
sometimes  if  the  wickedest  man  —whoever  he  might  hap- 
pen to  be,  considered  as  God  considers — does  not  some- 
times want  to  be  good. 

7  97 


98         now  THE  gospel  makes  men  holy. 

For  many  of  us  it  lias  been  miicli  more  than  a  vague 
longing  that  comes  back  again  and  again.  It  has  been 
an  earnest  elFort,  sometimes  a  fearful  struggle,  when  we 
have  been  trying  to  be  good,  and  we  have  wondered 
whether  something  would  not  come  in  the  course  of  the 
varied  experiences  of  life,  tliat  would  render  it  easier  for 
us  to  conquer  in  this  struggle,  easier  to  become  good. 
As  a  man  lives  on,  he  cannot  help  thinking — it  is  so 
hard  now — he  cannot  help  thinking  it  will  become  easier 
to  be  good.  And  when  changes  occur  in  his  outward 
life  he  hopes  now  to  find  it  easier.  He  sets  up  a  new 
home,  it  may  be,  and  has  a  vague  feeling  that  there  he 
will  be  able  to  be  good.  He  marries  a  pious  woman, 
may  be,  and  although  he  may  not  say  a  word  about  it, 
he  has  a  sort  of  notion  that  perhaps  that  will  be  blessed 
to  him,  and  he  will  become  pious  too.  He  loses  a  par- 
ent whom  he  leaned  on,  maybe  he  loses  a  little  child 
that  lay  in  his  bosom,  and  amid  the  strange  feelings  that 
rise  up  then,  and  which  he  w^ould  not  tell  any  one  about, 
he  thinks,  "  Now  surely  I  shall  become  good.^'  And  so,  as 
the  experiences  of  life  come  and  go,  men  still  hope  to  be 
good.  Who  is  there  here  to-day  that  does  not  hope  to 
be  good?  Who  is  tliere  here  to-day  that  at  this  solemn 
moment,  Avhen  Ave  are  thinking  about  the  soul  and  its 
immortality,  does  not  feel  that  to  be  good  is  the  loftiest 
human  aspiration  and  the  best  earthly  attainment  ?  O 
tell  me,  do  you  not  feel  it  ? 

Now  I  have  something  to  say  about  this  great  ques- 
tion ;  not  to  cite  my  own  experience  nor  to  give  my  own 
ideas,  but  I  "want  to  get  your  attention  fixed  on  the 
apostle  Paul's  account  of   this  matter,  including  some 


HOW    THE    GOSPEL    MAKES    MEN    HOLY.  99 

details  of  his  own  experience  about  it.  Let  us  see  how 
he  treats  the  question.  Here,  in  tlie  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, the  early  chapters  of  the  Epistle  are  occupied  with 
what  we  call  justification  by  faith,  telling  how,  by  be- 
lieving in  Jesus  Christ,  a  man  may  be  justified — that  is, 
may  be  regarded  and  treated  in  the  sight  of  God's  law 
as  if  he  were  a  just  man.  And  then  the  next  question 
that  will  arise  to  any  reflecting  mind,  and  which  the 
apostle  at  once  thought  of,  is.  Ah  !  but  how  does  this 
bear  on  the  matter  of  making  a  man  good,  in  his  real 
personal  character  ?  It  looks  at  first  like  a  sort  of  legal 
fiction,  the  idea  of  considering  a  man  as  just  in  the  sight 
of  God's  law,  though  he  is  not  just,  because  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  whom  he  believes.  And  then  remains  the 
question  how  a  man  is  to  be  made  righteous  in  his  own 
character,  how  he  is  to  be  made  holy.  Many  persons 
say  that  this  is  the  weak  point  of  the  Gospel,  that  the 
Gospel  tends  to  lessen  the  inducements  to  seek  personal 
holiness,  by  undertaking  to  make  a  man  just  simply  upon 
believing,  by  offering  him  amnesty.  They  talk  as  if  the 
Gospel  offer  of  free  pardon  for  somebody  else's  sake, 
yea,  and  of  title  to  everlasting  life  for  somebody  else's 
sake,  w'ere  an  encouragement  to  do  w^rong.  There  are 
many  men  holding  the  subject  at  arm's  length  who  main- 
tain that  the  Gospel  tends  to  prevent  us  from  trying  to 
do  right  by  thus  offering  salvation  gratuitously. 

Now  the  apostle  Paul  goes  on  to  show  in  the  first 
place  the  absurdity  of  such  an  idea;  to  show  that  when 
men  talk  as  if  it  were  a  small  thing  to  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ  the  Lord,  they  don't  understand  what  they  are 
talking  about.     He  show^s  by  several  different  illustra- 


100  HOW   THE   GOSPEL   MAKES   MEN   HOLY. 

tive  arguments  that  if  a  man  believes  in  Jesus  Christ, 
that  means  something ;  that  it  means  a  power  in  his  life, 
that  it  involves  a  change  in  his  inner  character.  He  says 
first  that  if  we  are  believers,  we  are  dead  to  sin  and  have 
risen  to  a  new  life.  He  reminds  his  readers  that  this 
great  thought  was  symbolized  by  that  affecting  ceremony 
in  which  they  entered  upon  the  professed  life  of  a  Chris- 
tian. "  Know  ye  not  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  bap- 
tized unto  Jesus  Christ  were  baptized  unto  his  death  ?  '^ 
Our  baptism  referred  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  don't  you 
know  that  it  referred  especially  to  his  death  and  resur- 
rection ?  "  That  like  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead 
by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk 
in  newness  of  life.''  Do  you  not  know  that  your  bap- 
tism, at  the  outset  of  your  Christian  life,  meant  that  you 
had  died  to  sin  and  risen  up  from  a  grave  like  the  sym- 
bolic grave  in  the  waters,  and  that  you  were  henceforth 
to  walk  in  newness  of  life  ? 

Then  he  takes  a  second  illustration.  We  were  slaves 
to  sin;  but  now,  by  believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  we  have 
changed  masters;  we  have  become,  so  to  speak,  the 
slaves  of  holiness,  the  slaves,  as  it  were,  of  God.  We 
have  a  new  INIaster,  and  we  shall  render  service  to  him. 
If  a  man  is  a  believer,  it  means  something.  It  means 
that  he  has  changed  masters.  And  yet  again  he  says 
the  case  is  like  that  of  a  woman  whose  husband  died, 
and  who  is  now  married  to  a  new  husband ;  the  children 
she  now  bears  are  no  longer  the  children  of  the  old  hus- 
band, but  of  the  new.  If  we  are  believers,  we  are  in- 
deed dead  to  the  law ;  but  we  are  married  to  Christ,  and 
the  fruit  of  our  life  is  to  be  borne  to  him. 


HOW   THE   GOSPEL   MAKES   MEN   HOLY.  101 

So,  then,  if  anybody  ever  tells  you  that  this  Gospel 
of  free  grace  is  an  encouragement  to  men  to  do  wrong, 
tell  him  it  cannot  be  so  for  a  man  who  believes  this  Gos- 
pel, for  that  means  something. 

But  the  apostle  by  no  means  stops  at  that.  Not  only 
is  it  absurd  to  say  that  salvation  by  grace  will  en- 
courage a  man  to  do  wrong,  but  justification  by  faith, 
salvation  by  grace,  furnishes  the  only  way  in  which  a 
man  can  really  become  holy.  The  apostle  shows  this 
negatively  and  then  positively.  In  this  remarkable 
passage  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans,  over  which 
so  many  religious  controversies  have  been  waged,  and 
over  which — what  is  ten  thousand  times  better  than 
religious  controversies — have  bent  many  troubled,  yet 
trusting  hearts  as  they  found  themselves  exactly  por- 
trayed— in  this  passage  the  apostle  first  points  out  what 
is  the  best  that  the  law  can  do  to  make  a  man  holy. 
What  is  the  best  that  a  man  can  do  in  the  way  of  be- 
coming holy,  by  just  trying  to  do  right,  simply  trying, 
in  his  own  strength,  to  do  what  he  learns  from  God's 
law  to  be  right?  There  are  people  who  are  trying  to  do 
that,  some  of  them  honest  in  it,  some  of  them  very  ear- 
nest. They  have  got  their  notion  as  to  what  is  right, 
and  are  trying  to  do  right.  Some  of  them  look  in  the 
Avord  of  God ;  they  push  aside  what  they  call  its  mys- 
teries and  all  matters  pertaining  to  doctrine,  and  take 
out  of  it  only  its  rules  of  right,  and  they  say:  "Now  I 
am  trying  to  live  according  to  these  rules  of  right." 
AVhat  is  the  best  they  can  do?  Here  is  the  apostle's 
answer. 

In  the  first  place,  he  says,  God's  law,  which  is  holy 


102  HOW   THE   GOSPEL    MAKES    MEN    HOLY. 

and  just  and  good,  will  make  a  man  see  how  bad  he  is. 
The  child  yonder  will  perhaps  know  what  is  meant  by 
a  plummet,  and  may  have  seen  a  man  building  on  a 
wall  and  hanging  down  his  plummet  to  see  if  his  wall 
was  perpendicular.  ^^And  judgment  I  have  set  to  the 
line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet.^^  God's  word 
applied  to  a  man's  life  will  help  him  to  see  whether  he 
has  been  upright.  Or  the  law  of  God  is  like  a  car- 
penter's straight  edge,  and,  laid  on  his  character,  will 
enable  him  to  see  where  his  character  deviates  from  rec- 
titude. Ah,  me!  whosoever  will  honestly  apply  this 
test,  the  result  will  be  a  deep  and  painful  consciousness 
that  he  does  not  come  up  to  it. 

But  more  than  that  happens.  By  the  strange  per- 
versity of  human  nature,  through  the  terrible  sinfulness 
of  sin,  God's  law  not  only  makes  us  see  how  bad  w^e 
are,  but  actually  makes  us  worse.  This  is  the  thought 
that  startles  us  here.  God's  lav/  makes  us  worse  in- 
stead of  making  us  better.  It  stimulates  sinfulness  by 
restraint.  Have  you  not  often  observed  how  restraint 
stimulates  men  to  act  contrary  to  it  ?  Not  long  ago  a 
lad  of  my  acquaintance  was  talked  to  by  his  father 
about  smoking,  with  an  earnest  request  that  he  would 
not  form  the  habit.  Afterwards  he  said  to  his  mother, 
^'  I  am  so  glad  that  papa  did  not  say  I  must  not  smoke, 
for  if  he  had  said  I  must  not  smoke,  I  could  not  have 
kept  from  it,  but  he  simply  said  he  wished  I  would  not ; 
I  am  so  glad."  There  was  a  great  deal  of  human  nature 
in  that. 

There  is  a  story  of  an  old  woman  in  one  of  the  Ger- 
man towns  who  had  lived  to  be  seventy  years  old  with- 


now    THE   GOSPEL   MAKES    MEN    HOLY.  103 

out  going  outside  the  ancient  wall  of  the  city.  The 
fact  was  told  to  the  Grand  Duke,  who  sent  the  old  lady 
Word  that  he  wished  the  fact  to  go  down  to  history  and 
begged  she  would  bo  sure  and  not  go  out  during  the  rest 
of  her  life.  You  may  know  what  would  happen.  She 
got  to  thinking  about  it,  and  in  a  short  time  she  went 
out.  But,  alas !  not  merely  in  ludicrous  ways  does  this 
propensity  of  ours  show  itself,  but  in  terrible  earnest. 
The  more  a  man  knows  something  is  wrong,  sometimes 
the  more  it  seems  he  cannot  help  doing  it.  If  you 
should  go  into  a  darkened  room,  that  had  long  been  shut 
up,  and  with  a  broom  should  begin  to  clean  it  out,  there 
might  be  a  nest  of  vipers  in  one  corner  lying  still  in  the 
darkness,  but  when  you  disturbed  them  they  would 
thrust  out  their  forked  tongues  and  hiss  and  threaten  to 
destroy  you.  So  when  God's  law  comes  with  its  de- 
mand upon  us  to  clean  out  the  sin  from  our  souls,  how 
our  sinful  propensities,  that  were  asleep  maybe,  will  wake 
up  and  threaten  us!  The  apostle  says, '^ I  was  alive 
without  the  law  once — I  thought  I  was  leading  a  true 
spiritual  life  and  that  I  was  a  good  man — but  when  the 
commandment  came  to  me,  sin  revived  (came  to  life 
again),  and  I  died.  I  saw  that  all  my  spirituality  was 
nothing,  I  was  not  a  good  man  at  a:l." 

Is  this  the  fault  of  the  law  of  God  ?  Paul  says. 
No;  the  law  of  God  is  all  right;  the  commandment 
of  God  is  holy  and  just  and  good — the  law  is  just  as 
good  as  it  can  be,  it  is  God's  own  law.  It  is  not  the 
fault  of  the  lav/,  it  is  the  fault  of  sin.  And  this  shows 
what  a  terrible  thing  sin  is,  that  it  takes  the  very  rule  of 
God  that  is  given  to  direct  our  life,  and  perverts  it  into 


104  HOW   THE   GOSPEL   MAKES   MEN   HOLY. 

the  occasion  of  doing  worse — "  that  sin  by  the  command- 
ment might  become  exceeding  sinful/^  Ah,  when  God 
has  reached  down  to  this  sin-ruined  world  of  ours  and 
given  his  own  rule  of  what  is  right,  men  take  that  and 
pervert  it  and  become  worse  than  they  would  have  been 
without  it.  Does  not  sin  thus  show  itself  to  be  exceed- 
ing sinful  ?  So  the  result  is  that  man  finds  in  himself 
a  struggle  which  the  apostle  himself  describes ;  there 
rise  up  desires  to  do  right,  and  then  there  arise  sinful 
dispositions,  contrary  to  God's  law ;  and  these  stimu- 
late one  another  until  sometimes  his  whole  bosom  is  a 
battle-field. 

Ah  !  the  battle-fields  in  human  bosoms  !  Do  you 
know  what  it  means  ?  Don't  you  know  ?  That  is  what 
the  apostle  proceeds  to  describe.  "What  I  want  to  do," 
he  says,  "  I  do  not  do,  and  what  I  don't  want  to  do  I 
keep  doing.  I  am  fighting  against  myself;  there  are 
good  tendencies  in  me,  but  there  are  evil  tendencies  in 
me,  and  I  war,  and  I  struggle,  and  I  wrestle — O 
wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the 
body  of  this  death  ?  ''  That  is  the  climax ;  that  is  the 
highest  that  ever  soul  of  man  reached  on  earth  in  trying 
to  be  good  in  his  own  strength — to  come  up  to  such  an 
intensity  of  fearful,  painful  struggle  that  he  would  cry 
out  in  the  agony  of  utmost  desperation,  ''  O  wretched, 
wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  ?  "  Does 
any  one  sit  coolly  here  to-day  and  say  there  is  a  touch  of 
extravagance  there  ?  Well,  it  is  the  apostle's  extrava- 
gance. And  oh,  the  more  a  man  strives  to  be  what  he 
ought  to  be,  while  losing  sight  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,   the   more   he  will   find   himself  in    sympathy 


HOW   THE   GOSPEL   MAKES   MEN   HOLY.  105 

with  that  wild,  passionate  cry  of  a  struggling,  tortured 
soul. 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  controversy  between 
what  are  called  Calvinists  and  what  are  called  Arminians, 
as  to  whether  this  passage  I  have  just  been  speaking  of 
gives  the  experience  of  a  renewed  man  or  of  an  unre- 
newed man.  I  think  the  truth  is,  as  some  recent  writers 
have  been  showing,  tliat  it  does  not  really  give  either, 
but  gives  the  experience  of  any  man,  either  renewed  or 
unrenewed,  who  is  looking  to  the  law  to  make  him  holy. 
Renewed  men  often  fall  back  upon  that.  They  lose  the 
firm  hold  on  justification  by  faith,  and  they  get  to  think- 
ing to  save  themselves,  to  make  themselves  holy  by  their 
own  merit.  Then  no  wonder  they  fall  down  in  despond- 
ency and  almost  in  despair.  Unrenewed  men,  on  the 
other  hand,  are  often  trying  to  do  right  according  to 
what  they  see  to  be  right — according  to  their  own  knowl- 
edge of  God's  word.  And  any  man  who  tries  to  be 
holy  in  his  own  strength,  this  is  his  experience.  Such  a 
conflict  there  is  in  the  bosoms  of  men,  and  of  the  best 
men,  yea,  a  battle-field  in  every  bosom  here  on  earth. 
Nowhere  is  sin  completely  triumphant,  and  nowhere, 
yet,  has  holiness  completely  triumphed.  But,  oh  !  the 
difference  between  those  beaten  back  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle, beaten  back  and  ever  back,  who  can  see  no  hope  of 
aught  but  destruction,  unless  something  strange  they  can- 
not anticipate  should  occur,  and  those  who  triumphantly 
rely  on  the  help  of  God,  and  are  certain  of  success.  O 
the  difference !  And  so  Paul  breaks  forth,  "  I  thank 
God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.'^ 

Let  us  then  turn  to  the  other  thought  of  the  apostle, 


106  HOW    THE   GOSPEL    MAKES    MEN    HOLY. 

as  to  what  the  gospel  can  do  towards  making  a  man  holy. 
He  makes  three  points  about  this. 

First,  the  gospel  sets  a  man  free  from  condemnation, 
because  of  his  past  sin.  ^'  There  is  tlierefore  now  no 
condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus."  The 
first  thought  of  a  man  who  begins  to  think  of  leading  a 
new  life  is,  "  What  am  I  to  do  with  all  these  sins  I  have 
already  committed  ?  '^  But  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
frees  us  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  from  condemnation  because 
of  our  sin.  There  is  now  no  condemnation.  The  gos- 
pel comes  to  the  ruined  debtor  to  pay  all  his  debts  in  a 
moment ;  it  comes  to  the  prisoner  to  break  the  bonds 
that  bound  him  and  to  open  the  doors  of  his  prison  and 
set  him  free. 

And  then,  in  the  next  place,  the  gospel  comes  with  a 
new  moral  power.  The  apostle  speaks  of  a  third  law 
that  comes  in  like  a  reinforcement:  ^'But  the  law  of  the 
spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  emancipated  me  from 
the  law  of  sin  and  death.''  This  new  reinforcing  power 
is  the  Spirit  of  God.  He  calls  it  the  law  of  the  Spirit. 
The  law  of  God  and  the  law  in  our  members  are  in 
fierce  conflict,  and  there  comes  a  new  moral  power  to 
give  us  the  victory.  My  brethren,  we  do  not  preach  as 
much  as  we  ought,  nor  think  half  as  much  as  we  ought, 
about  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  do  not  want  you  to  talk 
less  or  think  less  of  the  atoning  death,  or  the  interceding 
life,  or  the  tender  sym]-)athy,  or  the  beautiful  example, 
or  the  divine  power  of  the  divine  Redeemer;  not  less  of 
that,  but  more  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Why,  Jesus  him- 
self said  a  very  remarkable  thing  about  the  Holy  Spirit 
when  he  was  just  taking  leave  of  the  disciples.    On  that 


now    THE   GOSPEL   MAKES    MEN    HOLY.  107 

night  he  said :  "  Nevertheless,  I  tell  you  the  truth." 
Now,  when  a  dignified,  self-respecting  person  conde- 
scends to  say :  ^^  I  am  telling  you  the  truth,"  there  must 
be  some  very  special  occasion  for  it.  He  knew  he  was 
about  to  say  something  hard  for  them  to  believe : 
"  Nevertheless,  I  tell  you  the  truth ;  it  is  expedient  for 
you  that  I  go  away ;  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Com- 
forter will  not  come  to  you."  He  himself  says  you  are 
better  oil  as  it  is  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  great  Coun- 
sellor and  Guide  and  Comforter,  in  his  special  mission, 
than  if  he  had  not  come,  and  Jesus  himself  were  still  on 
earth.  Think  of  that ;  cherish  the  Spirit's  mission ; 
pray,  above  all  things,  when  you  pray,  that  your  Heav- 
enly Father  will  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  you,  that  you 
may  be  strengthened.  I  say  again,  we  think  too  little 
about  that  great  idea  and  element  of  the  gospel.  We 
go  struggling  on,  forgetting  that  mighty  reinforcement 
that  our  gracious  God  offers  us  in  our  life's  battle,  "the 
law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus."  The  next 
time  you  are  specially  tempted  cry  out  mightily  for  the 
help  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  And  when  you  are  despond- 
ent, and  fancy  you  can  never  get  to  be  what  your  soul 
longs  for,  remember  what  the  Spirit  of  God  can  make 
out  of  even  such  materials  as  your  character  and  your 
life. 

One  more  point.  The  apostle  mentions  a  new  and 
mighty  incentive  which  the  Gospel  presents,  when  he 
says,  a  little  further  on  :  "  For  as  many  as  are  led  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God."  My 
friends,  there  are  four  ways  in  which  it  is  conceivable 
that  a  man  should  serve  God.     One  of  them  is  practi- 


108  HOW   THE   GOSPEL   MAKES   MEN   HOLY. 

cally  impossible,  that  you  should  serve  God  with  fear 
and  trembling  as  a  subject  serves  a  tyrant.  There  are 
people  who  look  upon  God  In  the  light  of  a  despot ;  but 
they  cannot  really  serve  him  thus.  Again,  are  we  to 
serve  God  as  a  poor,  cowering  slave  serves  a  hard  mas- 
ter, from  fear  of  punishment?  Nay,  no  man  would 
truly  serve  God,  simply  from  fear  that  God  would  pun- 
ish him  if  he  did  not.  The  third  way  a  man  may  con- 
ceivably serve  God  is  in  the  hope  that  he  will  reward 
him.  But  nobody  would  ever  truly  serve  God,  if  it 
were  simply  and  alone  from  a  desire  of  reward,  not  even 
from  a  desire  to  reach  the  blessed  heaven.  The  other 
way  to  serve  God,  of  which  the  apostle  speaks,  is  to 
serve  him  out  of  filial  love ;  to  serve  him,  not  as  the 
subject  serves  a  tyrant,  not  as  the  servant  his  master, 
not  as  a  hireling  for  pay,  but  to  serve  him  as  a  loving 
son  serves  a  kind  father,  out  of  filial  love.  That  is  the 
great  idea  which  Christianity  brought  into  the  world 
on  this  subject.  That  is  the  new  motive  which  Jesus 
Christ  brings  to  bear  on  the  souls  of  men,  to  try  to  do 
right  out  of  filial  love  to  their  Father.  And  so  Paul 
proceeds  to  speak  of  the  ^^  Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we 
cry,  Abba,  Father." 

The  apostle's  heart  is  very  tender  here.  He  has  been 
depicting  those  terrible  struggles  which  he  himself  had 
had  in  other  days  with  his  own  sinful  propensities ;  his 
heart  is  now  very  tender,  and  so  he  falls  back  upon  his 
mother  tongue.  He  is  writing  in  Greek ;  but  he  uses 
the  Aramaic  word,  Abba.  If  you  were  talking  French 
or  German,  and  were  beginning  to  speak  of  things  that 
very  much  touched  your  heart ;  if  you  began,  for  in- 


HOW    TPIE   GOSPEL   MAKES   MEN   HOLY.  109 

stance,  to  speak  of  your  dead  mother,  whose  very  name 
makes  you  quiver,  you  would  not  then  speak  in  French 
or  German;  you  would  not  say  mother  in  French  or 
German ;  you  would  use  the  word  you  used  when  a 
child.  So  the  apostle  here  uses  the  Aramaic  language 
he  had  spoken  in  childhood  :  "  the  Spirit  of  adoption, 
whereby  we  cry,  Abba.^'  This  is  what  he  used  to  say 
when  he  was  a  boy,  and  he  translates  it  afterwards, — 
''Abba,  Father.^^ 

I  met  a  young  man  not  long  ago,  a  friend  of  mine, 
who  told  me  his  father  had  recently  died,  and  a  little  after 
his  wife's  father.  My  young  friend  was  talking  about 
it  until  he  could  not  talk.  He  broke  down  with  emotion 
as  he  told  me  how  lonely  he  felt  now  that  both  were 
gone  and  he  had  no  one  to  lean  on,  no  one  to  look  up  to. 
Even  some  old  men,  when  they  get  into  trouble,  think 
about  the  father  they  used  to  go  to,  and  say,  ''  I  wish  I 
could  ask  him  what  he  thinks  about  the  matter."  The 
Scriptures  take  hold  of  that  thought  and  tell  us  we  are 
not  to  look  to  God  simply  as  a  master  who  will  punish, 
not  merely  as  one  who  will  reward,  but  to  look  to  God 
as  our  Father,  Father,  Father  in  heaven. 

So,  then,  if  a  man  looks  to  the  law  to  make  him  holy, 
the  highest  result  will  be  a  cry  of  anguish,  "  Wretched 
man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me?  '^  But  turning  to 
the  gospel,  he  sees  hope  of  being  delivered  and  becoming 
holy,  and  may  say,  "  I  thank  God,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.'^ 


VIIL 

INTENSE  CONCERN  FOR  THE  SALVATION  OF 
OTHERS. 

For  1  could  wish  that  myself  were  accursed  from  Christ  for  my 
brethren. — Romans  ix  :  3. 

THIS  is  known  to  students  of  the  Scriptures  as  one  of 
the  passages  which  are  commonly  accounted  difficult, 
— one  of  the  hard  places.  A  preacher  would  not  be  likely  . 
to  take  such  a  passage  as  his  text,  unless  he  supposed  it 
possible  to  present  a  simple  and  natural  explanation  of 
it,  and  to  draw  from  it  as  thus  explained  some  useful, 
practical  lessons.  Before  I  try  to  do  this,  it  may  be 
allowable  to  offer  two  or  three  hints  as  to  the  course  we 
ought  to  pursue  in  studying  the  difficult  passages  of 
Scripture, — hints  that  would,  indeed,  apply  to  all  our 
Scriptural  studies. 

My  first  hint  would  be  this  :  Be  willing  to  let  the 
Scripture  mean  what  it  wants  to  mean.  You  may  say, 
"  that,  of  course,"  but  it  is  very  far  from  being  a  mat- 
ter of  course.  Be  willing  to  let  the  Scripture  mean 
what  it  wants  to  mean.  Vv^e  come  to  it  knowing;  before- 
hand  what  things  we  like  and  what  things  we  dislike, 
and  if  we  find  in  the  passage  something  not  in  accord- 
ance Avith  the  ideas  we  have  been  reared  in,  or  that  now 
liave  possession  of  our  minds,  we  say,  "  Well,  of  course 
it  can't  mean  tliat,"  and  then  we  begin  to  search  for 
110 


CONCERN    FOR   THE   SATiVATION    OF   OTHERS,     lit 

some  other  meaning.  The  plainer  the  passage,  the  harder 
to  find  anything  else  tlian  what  is  plainly  meant,  and  so 
we  go  off  and  say,  '^  What  a  difficult  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture T'  Has  not  that  often  happened  to  you  ?  It  has 
happened  to  me.  I  have  waked  np  to  find,  after  long 
years  of  study,  that  something  I  always  thought  was  a 
very  hard  passage  was  plain  enough,  only  I  had  never 
been  willing  to  allow  it  to  mean  what  it  wished  to 
mean. 

My  second  hint  would  be  :  Take  good  account  of  the 
connection.  We  are  peculiarly  prone  to  neglect  the 
connection  in  dealing  with  Scripture,  because  we  have 
the  Bible  printed — most  unfortunately,  I  think — in  little 
scraps  of  broken  sentences,  set  before  us  as  if  they  were 
separate  paragraphs — which  is  not  done  in  any  other  book 
in  the  world — and  broken  up  also  in  larger  portions  which 
are  called  chapters,  where  the  connection  is  often  com- 
pletely severed,  and  yet  we  cannot  help  imagining  there 
must  be  a  new  subject  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  chapter. 
Moreover,  we  are  accustomed  to  hear  short  passages 
taken  as  texts,  and  too  often  iiiterpreted  without  regard 
to  the  connection.  The  connection  is  sometimes  the  en- 
tire book.  I  doubt  if  there  is  one  sentence  in  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  and  there  are  very  few  in  the  epistle  to 
the  Eomans,  which  can  be  really  understood  without  tak- 
ing account  of  the  whole  epistle.  But  often  the  connec- 
tion is  only  some  sentences  before  and  after.  Now,  if  you 
consider  the  connection,  it  is  wonderful  how  it  will  help 
you  to  understand  a  difficult  passage.  You  go  above  the 
difficult  place;  you  launch  on  the  stream  above,  and 
come  floating  down,  and  your  boat  is   borne  over  the 


112    CONCERN    FOR   THE   SALVATION   OF   OTHERS. 

rocks.  If  you  cannot  determine  the  precise  meaning  of 
the  words,  you  will  see  what  is  the  general  thought  of 
the  passage  as  a  whole,  and  that  is  the  main  consid- 
eration. 

The  last  hint  I  shall  mention  is,  that  we  must  take 
good  account  of  the  state  of  the  writer's  mind,  when  he 
says  these  things.  What  is  he  thinking  about  ?  What 
is  he  aiming  at  ?  How  is  he  feeling,  when  he  uses  this 
language  ?  I  am  sure,  if  any  of  you  have  tried  it,  you 
will  find  that  the  more  care  you  exercise,  when  reading 
the  Scriptures,  in  trying  to  enter  into  sympathy  with  the 
thought  and  feeling  of  the  sacred  writer,  the  better  you 
will  be  prepared  to  see  what  he  really  means. 

Now,  all  these  hints  I  have  ventured  to  offer  are  of 
importance  to  us  in  studying  the  text :  ^'  I  could  wish 
that  myself  were  accursed  from  Christ  for  my  brethren.'' 
Observe  he  does  not  say  "I  wish."  Not  he.  He  could 
not  say  that.  But  he  almost  says  it.  The  original 
could  not  be  better  translated  in  any  other  words  than 
those  used  in  our  version.  The  apostle  seems  to  be  like 
one  who  is  on  the  point  of  saying  something  wrong.  He 
rushes,  as  it  were,  towards  the  brink  of  saying  that  he 
wishes  to  be  accursed  for  his  brethren,  only  he  does  not 
say  it — stopping  on  the  brink  because  it  would  be 
wrong,  because  his  devout  heart  would  shrink  back  from 
the  idea  of  being  accursed  from  Christ,  even  for  his 
brethren.  Now,  why  does  the  inspired  apostle  use  this 
strange  language  ?  Why  does  Paul  almost  say  a  terri- 
ble thing,  so  terrible  that  many  people,  as  they  come  upon 
it,  and  begin  to  inquire  into  the  meaning,  all  out  of  sym- 
pathy with  the  passion  of  the  writer,  imagine  that  they 


CONCERN  FOR  THE  SALVATION  OF  OTHERS.  113 

must  explain  it  away — that  it  must  be  impossible  for 
him  to  approach  even  to  the  brink  of  saying  what  would 
be  so  dreadful. 

The  epistle  to  the  Romans  is  taken  up  in  its  doctrinal 
portion  with  the  great  thought  of  justification  by  faith  : 
that  men  are  justified  simply  by  believing  in  Jesus.  The 
apostle  discusses  that  in  the  first  five  chapters.  We  had 
a  text  from  that  portion  some  Sundays  ago.  Then,  in 
the  next  three  chapters  he  discusses  the  bearing  of 
this  justification  by  faith  upon  the  matter  of  sanctifica- 
tion,  showing  how  it  works  in  helping  us  to  be  good. 
We  had  a  text  from  that  portion  not  long  ago.  In 
three  more  chapters  he  now  discusses  the  bearing  of  jus- 
tification by  faith  upon  the  privileges  of  the  Jews.  The 
Jews  considered  themselves  far  superior,  in  point  of  re- 
ligion, to  any  nation  in  the  world,  and  they  would  begin 
to  see  at  once  that  if  the  apostle's  doctrine  be  true,  and  a 
man  is  accepted  through  simple  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
then  a  Gentile  might  exercise  that  as  well  as  a  Jew,  and 
so  a  Gentile  would  be  as  good  as  a  Jew.  We  cannot 
imagine  how  they  would  shrink  back  from  any  doctrine 
with  such  a  conclusion,  that  a  Gentile  is  as  good  as  a 
Jew.  We  do  not  know  of  any  national  or  race  preju- 
dices in  our  time  that  are  so  strong  as  the  prejudices 
then  existing  between  Jew  and  Gentile.  They  would 
especially  dislike  such  teaching  from  Paul  the  apostle. 
They  would  say  he  is  a  renegade  himself  to  the  religion 
of  his  fathers.  He  is  a  traitor  to  his  people.  They 
were  indignant  at  the  idea  of  his  saying  that  a  Gentile 
could  be  saved  as  well  as  a  Jew.  When  Paul  said,  the 
following  spring,  in  his  address  at  Jerusalem,  that  Jesus 
8 


114    CONCERN    FOR   THE   SALVATION   OF   OTHERS. 

had  told  him  to  go  to  the  Gentiles,  they  broke  out  in  ^ 
rage,  and  he  had  to  be  saved  by  the  Roman  garrison. 
The  apostle  knew  how  intensely  they  would  dislike  this 
idea,  and  so  he  wanted  to  assure  them  in  entering  upon 
this  topic — the  bearing  of  justification  by  faith  upon  the 
privileges  of  the  Jews — he  wanted  to  assure  them  that 
he  loved  his  own  people,  and  although  he  is  bound  to 
acknowledge,  as  he  is  going  to  acknowledge,  that  the 
great  mass  of  his  people  are  rejecting  the  Messiah,  while 
Gentiles  all  around  are  believing  unto  salvation,  yet  he 
acknowledges  this  with  inexpressible  pain  and  grief. 
That  is  the  way  he  feels.  That  is  what  he  wants  to  im- 
press upon  them.  He  sees  what  is  coming  for  his 
nation.  This  epistle  was  written  twelve  years  before 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  only  eight  years  before 
the  war  that  led  to  that  destruction.  The  apostle  saw 
that  soon  their  hot  fanaticism  would  break  out  in  des- 
perate rebellion  against  the  Roman  authority,  and  sooner 
or  later  they  must  be  crushed  out  and  ground  to  atoms.- 
Here  was  a  man  who  saw  that  his  own  nation,  his  own 
race,  bound  to  him  not  merely  by  nationality  in  the  or- 
dinary sense,  but  by  ties  of  blood  through  long  and  pure 
descent,  was  going  to  ruin.  His  race  alone  of  all  the  great 
races  of  the  earth  can  trace  their  history  back  to  a  his- 
toric ancestor  ;  for  all  the  other  peoples  find  their  ances- 
try lost  in  darkness,  but  the  Jews  could  go  back  in  his- 
tory to  tlieir  common  father.  His  race  had  great  and 
glorious  deeds  connected  with  its  history  in  the  past,  and 
had  yet  more  glorious  promises  for  the  future  in  connection 
with  the  Messiah.  And  this  man,  who  loved  his  people, 
who  loved  them  so  intensely  that  when  the  Lord  ap- 


CONCERN  FOR  THE  SALVATION  OF  OTHERS.  115 

peared  to  him  in  a  vision,  and  said,  "  Go  preach  to  the 
heathen,"  he  remonstrated  and  did  not  want  to  obey, 
and  had  to  be  driven  by  persecution,  clearly  sees  that 
the  Jewish  nation  is  about  to  perish.  Not  only  does  he 
see  that  national  destruction  awaits  them,  but  he  sees 
that  the  great  mass  of  them  are  slighting  their  own 
Messiah,  now  that  he  is  come,  are  rejecting  the  salvation 
that  is  in  him  alone,  and  plunging  madly  into  the  dark- 
ness of  eternity.  He  feels  all  that.  And  listen  how  he 
speaks,  in  introducing  this  subject,  ^'  I  say  the  truth  in 
Christ — I  lie  not.''  A  man  of  self-respect  never  conde- 
scends to  assure  people  that  he  is  telling  the  truth  and 
not  lying,  unless  there  is  some  extraordinary  reason  for 
it.  "  I  say  the  truth  in  Christ — I  lie  not,  my  conscience 
also  bearing  me  witness  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  I  have 
great  heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  in  my  heart.  For 
I  could  wish  that  myself  were  accursed  from  Christ  for 
my  brethren,  my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh  ;  wlio 
are  Israelites ;  to  whom  pertaineth  the  adoption,  and  the 
glory,  and  the  covenants,  and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and 
the  service  of  God,  and  the  promises ;  whose  are  the 
fathers,  and  of  whom  as  concerning  the  flesh  the  IMessiah 
came,  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  forever.''  You  Fce 
that  ordinary  language  does  not  suffice  to  express  his 
emotion.  In  his  swelling  passion  of  soul  he  rushes  to 
the  very  brink  of  saying  what  would  be  wrong  to  say, 
and  shrinks  back  from  saying  it.  That  seems  to  me  to 
be  the  plain  meaning  of  the  passage,  and  all  that  is 
necessary  to  understand  it  is  sympathy  with  the  sacred 
writer's  state  of  mind. 

Now,  as  thus  explained,  the  passage  is  rich  in  instruc- 


116     CONCERN    FOR  THE  SALVATION   OF   OTHERS. 

tion.  I  shall  only  gather  out  three  or  four  of  its  lessons, 
all  of  which  connect  themselves  with  one  thought:  in- 
tense concern  for  the  salvation  of  others. 

1.  And  first.  Concern  for  the  salvation  of  others  is 
naturally  enhanced  by  patriotism.  If  a  man  feels  at  all 
as  a  Christian  ought  to  feel  in  the  way  of  desire  for  the 
salvation  of  all  his  fellow-men,  through  common  human 
sympathies  and  common  wants  and  destinies,  then  he 
will  naturally  feel  more  of  such  concern  for  those  who 
are  allied  to  him  by  ties  of  nationality ;  dear  to  him 
through  feelings  of  patriotism — his  own  people.  And 
all  the  more  if  they  are  also  dear  to  him  by  ties  of  per- 
sonal affection — if  they  live  in  his  own  locality,  if  they 
share  all  his  peculiar  interests,  his  difficulties,  his  joys. 
Still  more  if  they  are  his  friends,  and  most  of  all  if  they 
are  his  kindred.  All  the  reasons  we  have  for  desiring 
the  salvation  of  mankind  at  large  exist  in  such  cases, 
and  then  all  these  additional  reasons  enhance  the  con- 
cern we  naturally  feel  for  their  salvation.  My  friends, 
not  only  Paul  felt  thus,  but  he  who  stood  on  Olivet  and 
looked  out  on  the  splendid  capital  of  his  country,  which 
he  knew  was  doomed  to  destruction,  shall  we  not  sup- 
pose that  he  felt  some  peculiar  interest  in  his  own  people? 
Why  not? 

2.  Again.  Concern  for  the  salvation  of  others  is  not 
prevented  by  a  belief  in  what  we  call  the  doctrines  of 
grace ;  is  not  prevented  by  believing  in  divine  sover- 
eignty, and  ]iredesti nation  and  election.  Many  persons 
intensely  dislike  the  ideas  which  are  expressed  by  these 
phrases.  Many  persons  shrink  away  from  ever  accept- 
ing them,  because  those  ideas  are  in  their  minds  asso- 


CONCERN    FOR   THE   SALVATION    OF   OTHERS.     117 

ciated  with  the  notion  of  stolid  indifference.  They  say 
if  predestination  be  true,  then  it  follows  that  a  man 
cannot  do  anything  for  his  own  salvation  ;  that  if  he  is 
to  be  saved  he  will  be  saved,  and  he  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it,  and  need  not  care,  nor  need  any  one  else  care. 
Now,  this  does  not  at  all  follow,  and  I  will  prove  that  it 
does  not  follow,  by  the  fact  that  Paul  himself,  the  great 
oracle  of  this  doctrine  in  the  Scripture,  has  uttered  these 
words  of  burning  passionate  concern  for  the  salvation  of 
others,  so  close  by  the  passages  in  which  he  has  taught 
the  doctrines  in  question.  Look  back  from  the  text, 
run  back  a  few  sentences  and  you  will  find  the  very  pas- 
sage upon  which  many  stumble  :  ''  Moreover,  whom  he 
did  predestinate" — there  are  people  who  shudder  at  the 
very  words — "  them  he  also  called,  and  whom  he  called, 
them  he  also  justified;  and  whom  he  justified,  them  he 
also  glorified.''  Just  a  little  while  after  he  uttered  those 
words  from  which  men  want  to  infer  that  the  man  who 
believes  it  need  not  feel  concerned  for  his  salvation  or 
the  salvation  of  others,  just  a  little  after,  came  the  pas- 
sionate words  of  the  text.  Nor  is  that  all,  for  you  will 
find  just  following  the  text,  where  he  speaks  of  Esau 
and  Jacob,  that  God  made  a  difference  between  them 
before  they  were  born,  and  where  he  says  of  Pharaoh 
that  God  raised  him  up  that  he  might  show  his  power  in 
him,  and  that  God's  name  might  be  declared  through- 
out all  the  earth.  "  Therefore  he  liath  mercy  on  whom 
he  will,  and  whom  he  will  he  harleneth."  Some  good 
people  fairly  shiver  at  the  inference,  which  seems  to 
theai  to  be  inevitable  from  such  language  as  that. 
But   I   say  the  inference   must   be  wrong,  for   the    in- 


118     CO^XEliN    FOR    THE    SAT.VATION    OF    OTHERS. 

spired  man  who  uttered  this  language,  only  a  few 
moments  before  had  uttered  these  words  of  the  text. 
And  ^^•llenever  you  find  your  lieart  or  the  heart  of  your 
friend  inclined  to  shrink  away  from  these  great  teachings 
of  divine  Scripture  concerning  sovereignty  and  predes- 
tination, tlien  I  pray  you  make  no  argument  about  it, 
but  turn  to  this  language  of  concern  for  the  salvation  of 
others,  so  intensely  passionate  that  men  wonder  and 
think  surely  it  cannot  mean  what  it  says.  The  trouble 
is  in  this  and  many  cases  that  we  draw  unwarranted  in- 
ferences from  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  and  then  cast 
all  the  odium  of  thpse  inferences  upon  the  truths  fro&i 
wdiich  we  draw  them.  Now,  I  say  that  wdiatever  be 
true,  for  or  against  the  apostle's  doctrines  of  predestina- 
tion and  divine  sovereignty  in  salvation,  it  is  not  true  that 
they  will  make  a  man  careless  as  to  his  own  salvation  or 
that  of  others ;  seeing  that  they  had  no  such  eifect  on  Paul 
himself,  but  right  in  between  these  two  great  passages 
come  the  wonderful  words  of  the  text. 

3.  The  third  lesson  is,  that  concern  for  the  salvation 
of  others  will  sometimes  rise  to  intense  passion.  The 
Apostle  Paul  is  not  always  saying,  "Woe  is  me  if  I 
preach  not  the  gospel."  He  said  that  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances. Nor  does  he  anywhere  else  use  such  an 
expression  as  this  of  the  text.  So,  as  I  said,  concern 
for  the  salvation  of  others  will  sometimes  rise  to  intense 
passion. 

And  more  generally,  let  us  say,  piety  has  elements  of 
l)assionate  feeling.  I  suppose  that  piety  is  threefold  : 
there  is  thought,  and  feeling,  and  action.  Different  per- 
sons arc  inclined  to  prefer  one  or  the  other  of  these  three. 


CONCERN    FOR   THE   SALVATION    OF   OTHERS.     119 

according  to  their  own  natural  constitution,  their  educa- 
tion, prejudices,  etc. ;  but  all  three  are  necessary  to  a 
symmetrical  Christian  character  and  Christian  life. 
Some  persons  will  say,  if  you  talk  with  them,  ^^O,  I 
do  love  (Christian  thought — I  love  to  hear  a  preacher 
who  presents  to  me  inspiring  thoughts,  especially  if  there 
is  some  new  thouo-ht."  And  then  some  of  them  are 
carried  away  with  the  idea  that  they  want  modern 
thought,  as  they  call  it,  instead  of  Scripture.  But  mean- 
time it  is  true  that  we  also  need  feeling.  A  man  who 
finds  himself  inclined  to  prefer  what  he  calls  thought  in 
connection  with  Christianity,  and  to  neglect  Christian 
feeling  and  Christian  action,  ought  to  see  to  it  lest  his 
character  be  deformed  because  wanting  in  essential  ele- 
ments, and  ought  to  cultivate  in  himself  a  regard  for 
feeling  and  for  action.  Many  cultivated  people  in  our 
time,  as  they  look  with  ill-concealed  disgust  upon  the 
poor  negroes,  with  their  wild  passionate  way  of  express- 
ino;  relio^ious  feeling:,  had  better  see  to  it  lest  thcv  them- 
selves  be  ruinously  lacking  in  the  element  which  appears 
in  the  blacks  to  be  too  exclusive.  Then  there  are  those 
w4io  care  nothing  about  anything  but  feeling.  They 
say,  "  I  love  to  hear  a  man  that  makes  me  feel."  Their 
danger  is  that  they  will  not  know  what  they  are  feeling 
about,  because  it  is  not  Scripture  truths  that  make  them 
feel,  and  such  feeling  wdll  not  lead  to  pious  action. 
Emotion  in  religion  is  proper  and  necessary,  and  I  do 
not  condemn  those  w^io  value  it  highly  ;  but  such  persons 
must  see  to  it  that  they  have  truth,  which  is  the  circu- 
lating life-blood  of  piety,  and  that  their  feelings  shall 
lead  to  corresponding  earnest  and   intense  activity  ;  for 


120    COXCERX   FOR   THE   SALVATION   OF   OTHERS. 

emotion  about  religion^  as  in  anything  else,  if  it  does  not 
express  itself  in  activity,  will  not  only  be  worthless,  but 
will  injure  the  character.  Others  there  are  who  talk  of 
nothing  but  action,  work,  work.  Now,  work  is  a  noble 
word,  but  the  danger  of  these  persons  is,  that  they  will 
fortret  to  love  Christian  truth  and  to  cultivate  Christian 
feeling. 

The  same  thing  is  true  as  to  bodies  of  men.  You  can 
easily  think  of  a  great  religious  denomination  in  our 
country,  who  care  mainly  for  thought,  instruction,  knowl- 
edge. A  noble  idea  it  is,  but  possibly  their  danger  may 
be  that  they  will  underrate  Christian  feeling.  You  can 
very  easily  think  of  another  powerful  and  useful  denom- 
ination of  Christians  whose  great  idea  is  feeling.  Every- 
thing is  made  to  contribute  to  working  up  emotion,  and 
tb.eir  danger  is  that  they  will  neglect  the  importance  of 
holding  truth,  even  if  they  do  not  neglect  the  importance 
of  activity. 

The  same  thing  is  also  true  about  certain  periods  of 
Christian  history.  You  can  find  periods  when  all  the 
Christian  world  seemed  devoted  to  the  idea  of  doctrine, 
when  men  disputed  through  a  lifetime  about  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity,  when  all  the  great  divisions  of  the 
time  centred  themselves  upon  the  difference  between 
two  words  of  Scripture.  You  can  find  other  periods 
where  Christianity  seemed  to  run  altogether  into  mys- 
tical feeling ;  when  good  people  gave  themselves  up  to 
solitary  lives,  or  retired  to  the  privacy  of  their  homes, 
and  tliought  that  all  that  could  be  done  was  to  try  to 
cultivate  Christian  sentiment  in  private.  And  ours  is 
an  age  which  runs  towards  activity.     The  Christian  idea 


CONCERN  FOR  THE  SALVATION  OF  OTHERS.  121 

now  is  work.  I  thank  God  that  we  live  in  such  an  age. 
It  is  good  to  live  in  a  time  when  the  idea  is  to  work.  It 
is  a  noble  privilege  to  live  in  such  a  period.  But  our 
danger  is  that  we  shall  not  care  for  Christian  truth,  and 
that  in  our  fancied  superiority  to  all  mere  emotion  we 
shall  shrink  away  from  those  great  sentiments,  that  pas- 
sionate Christian  feeling,  which  alone  will  stir  us  up  to 
intense,  loving  and  persevering  Christian  activity. 

4.  One  more  lesson.  Concern  for  the  salvation  of 
others,  such  as  Paul  here  expresses,  must  have  had  some 
good  ground  in  the  nature  of  things.  Ah !  my  friends, 
you  cannot  tell  me  that  the  man  who  wrote  those  words 
thought  that  everybody  was  going  to  be  saved  at  last. 
If  he  did  not  believe  in  divine  mercy  and  divine  love ; 
if  he  did  not  believe  in  the  salvation  that  is  in  Jesus 
Christ — in  the  glory  and  the  power  of  his  grace,  and  his 
everlasting  intercession — then  who  ever  did?  He  did 
believe  in  these.  And  yet  do  you  think  a  man  could 
have  felt  that  passionate  distress  to  which  he  here  gives 
such  strong  utterance,  if  he  had  thought,  as  so  many 
well-meaning  people  think  now-a-days,  that  God  is  so 
good  and  merciful,  that  somehow  or  other,  may  be  not  at 
first  when  they  die,  but  sometime  or  other,  it  will  be  well 
v>  ith  everybody  at  last  ?  Paul  did  not  think  so.  He 
could  not  have  thought  so.  And  I  venture  to  say 
Jesus  Christ  did  not  think  so.  If  we  are  determined 
that  we  will  cling  to  certain  ideas,  because  they  suit  our 
natural  feeling,  then  I  am  persuaded  we  must  turn  our 
back  upon  the  authority  of  the  w^ord  of  God.  There 
must  be  some  ground  for  such  concern  as  Paul  felt.  I 
shrink  from  telling  what  it  is.     I  think  of  the  awful 


122    CONCERN    FOR   THE   SALVATION   OF   OTHERS. 

terms  which  the  Scriptures  themselves  sometimes  em- 
ploy,_thc  images  of  horror,  the  words  of  everlasting  fire 

and  I  do  not  wish  here  and  now  to  speak  of  them. 

But  there  must  be  some  ground  for  this  passionate  con- 
cern for  men's  salvation  which  Paul  expresses.  And  if 
men  ought  to  feel  so,  and  if  devout  people  do  feel  so 
with  reference  to  others,  then  tell  me  how  those  others 
ought  to  feel  as  regards  themselves?  My  friends,  who 
do  not  care  anything  about  your  souls,  you  must  be  mad- 
men and  irresponsible,  or  else  you  ought  to  care. 

I  humbly  confess  to-day,  in  behalf  of  my  Christian 
hearers,  that  we  do  not  feel  on  this  subject  as  we  ought 
to  feel.  It  is  only  now  and  then  that  we  catch  glimpses 
of  the  reality.  "  Life  is  oft  so  like  a  dream,  we  know 
not  where  we  are,"  and  we  do  not  realize  things,  and  so 
we  do  not  feel  the  concern  we  ought  to  feel.  We  are 
wanting  in  our  duty  to  you  in  this  respect.  And  yet 
vou  do  not  know  how  much  concern  we  do  feel.  Many 
and  many  a  time  have  persons  who  are  here  to-day, 
when  they  found  themselves  in  the  presence  of  those  they 
loved,  wanted  to  say  something,  their  very  life  has 
trembled  with  the  desire  to  say  something,  and  they 
have  shrunk  back.  May  be  they  were  afraid  they 
would  meet  no  sympathy.  This  may  have  been  true 
in  some  cases.  And  yet,  my  brethren,  I  suspect  it  has 
sometimes  happened  that  you  shrank  from  speaking 
when  that  very  one  you  loved  was  secretly  wishing  that 
you  would  speak,  but  from  a  like  shrinking  to  yours,  per- 
haps from  a  fear  that  you  would  suppose  he  cared 
more  than  he  did,  or  from  a  strange  sensitiveness  with 
regard  to  the  feelings   that  lie   deepest  in  our  hearts, 


CONCERN    FOR   THE   SALVATION    OF   OTHERS.     123 

would  offer  you  no  encouragement.  But  I  venture  to 
say  to  such  as  are  not  Christians,  tliere  are  those  tliat 
do  feel  a  deep  yearning,  an  unutterable  concern  some- 
times for  your  salvation,  and  O,  my  friends,  you  ought 
to  feel  concern  for  yourselves. 


IX. 

THE  MOTHER  OF  JESUS. 

Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus. — Acts  i  :  14. 

THERE  is  a  well-known  tendency  of  human  thought 
to  oscillate  from  one  extreme  to  another.  I  think 
this  tendency  was  exhibited  in  several  points  of  what  we 
call  the  Protestant  Reformation.  In  certain  important 
respects,  we  are  all  agreed  that  there  w*as  a  real  and 
thorough  reformation.  In  certain  other  respects  most  of 
us  think  it  was  a  very  partial  reformation.  And  there 
are  yet  several  other  respects  in  which  it  was  a  violent 
reaction  from  one  extreme  to  the  opposite  extreme.  It 
appears  to  me  that  this  has  been  the  case  as  regards  the 
position  of  Protestants  toward  the  mother  of  Jesus. 
The  Romanists,  we  may  say  without  uncharitableness, 
have  come  very  near  making  her  an  object  of  worship. 
Their  theologians  make  nice  distinctions  on  the  subject, 
but  practically,  for  the  ignorant  mass,  she  is  really  an 
object  of  worship,  a  sort  of  goddess.  The  Protestant 
mind,  starting  back  in  horror  from  that  terrible  idolatry, 
has  seemed  to  shrink  sensitively  away  from  ever  saying 
a  word  or  ever  thinking  for  a  moment  about  the  mother 
of  Jesus. 

It  is  all  natural  enough,  the  growth  of  what  we  con- 
sider to  1)0  the  grave  Romanist  error  about  Mary.     The 

associations  connected  with  all  those  who  followed  Jesus 
124 


THE    MOTHER   OF   JESUS.  125 

would  naturally  have  caused  the  early  Christians  to  feel 
a  peculiar  interest  in  her,  as  they  ought  to  have  done. 
And  then  the  feeling  which  rapidly  grew  up,  of  a  de- 
sire for  human  mediation  between  us  and  God — between 
us  and  the  Saviour  himself — and  w^hich  led,  in  the 
course  of  the  centuries,  to  praying  to  the  saints  for  their 
mediation,  would  naturally  cause  the  mother  of  Jesus  to 
be  regarded  as  the  most  influential  of  all  these  interced- 
ing saints.  Moreover,  the  Roman  Church,  with  that 
talent  for  governing  which  has  characterized  the  Roman 
people  through  all  their  history,  readily  adapted  itself  to 
the  tastes  of  mankind,  to  the  tendencies  of  human  nature 
in  general,  and  to  the  special  usages  of  the  old  Pagan 
Romans,  introducing,  for  example,  a  number  of  festivals, 
so  that  there  would  be  something  corresponding  to  the 
ancient  festivals  to  please  the  people.  And  as  all  Pagan 
nations  had  their  female  deities,  there  naturally  arose  a 
feeling  which  made  the  mother  of  Jesus  a  sort  of  female 
divinity.  Then,  when  art  came  into  use  in  the  churches, 
when  they  introduced  image  worship,  there  was  nothing 
more  natural  than  that  the  mother  and  the  babe  in  her 
arms  should  be  the  chosen  subject  of  artistic  representa- 
tion in  places  of  worship ;  that  the  great  artists  of  Italy 
should  not  only  find  this  most  popular  and  remunerative 
for  their  pencil,  but  most  pleasing  for  themselves.  So 
galleries  were  filled  with  many  charming  delineations  of 
the  Virgin  and  child.  I  suppose,  also,  that  the  spirit  of 
chivalry  in  the  Middle  Ages  may  have  had  something  to 
do  with  this.  There  Avas  then  a  high,  romantic  senti- 
ment towards  woman  as  such,  and  this  may  have  caused 
Mary  to  be  regarded  as  the  representative  woman,  so 


126  THE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS. 

that  romance  added  itself  to  devotion.  For  these  and 
other  causes  it  has  come  to  pass  that  not  only  in  the 
Roman  Church,  but  in  the  Greek  and  Armenian  and 
Coptic  Churches,  and  all  through  the  East,  they  talk  a 
great  deal  more  about  Mary  than  about  her  son.  I  have 
at  home  a  great  collection  of  Latin  hymns  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  made  by  a  German  scholar,  in  which  there  are 
three  times  as  many  about  Mary  as  about  Jesus  and  the 
apostles  all  put  together. 

Now,  I  say  the  Protestant  mind  has  violently  reacted 
from  all  this,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  we  should  shrink 
shuddering  from  what  is  practical  idolatry,  no  matter 
how  skillfully  explained  away.  But  isn't  it  a  pity  that 
we  should  go  to  the  opposite  extreme  as  regards  the 
mother  of  our  Lord?  Let  us  look,  then,  at  what  the 
Scriptures  teach.  It  was  said  to  her  by  the  angel, 
"Blessed  art  thou  among  women,"  and  she  said, 
"Henceforth  all  generations  shall  call  me  blessed." 
There  is  no  ground  there  for  worship.  "  Blessed  among 
women,"  Elizabeth  was  called,  and  Jael,  who  killed 
Sisera.  The  meaning  of  Mary's  own  saying  is,  all  gen- 
erations shall  call  me  happy,  shall  felicitate  me,  shall 
recognize  that  my  position  is  a  happy  one.  There  is  no 
foundation  for  calling  her  "the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary," 
as  an  act  of  worship,  but  there  is  a  foundation  for  tak- 
ing peculiar  interest  in  what  the  Scriptures  teach  con- 
cerning her.  It  is  not  mucli  that  they  do  teach,  and 
doubtless  that  is  well,  for  otherwise  it  would  have  been 
perverted  in  the  interest  of  that  semi-idolatry  we  have 
been  speaking  about ;  but  from  what  they  do  teach  we 
may  draw  some  useful   lessons,  and  may,  at  the  same 


THE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS.  127 

time,  get  some  interesting  views  of  her  son,  who  is,  O 
wonder  of  wonders !  our  Divine  Redeemer. 

1.  First  recall  Mary's  early  life.  Now,  I  could  bring 
you  some  so-called  manuals  about  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  which  would  give  you  a  great  mass  of  detail 
about  her  early  life,  but  unfortunately  they  are  all  late 
tradition ;  in  fact,  they  are  all  pure  fiction,  and  without 
the  advantage  of  being  well  invented.  They  are  com- 
monly dull  and  stupid.  But  when  we  look  to  the  Scrip- 
tures themselves,  some  things  we  do  know  about  her 
early  life.  We  know  that  instead  of  being  at  a  convent 
at  Jerusalem,  as  the  silly  traditions  say,  she  lived  at  the 
little  town  of  Nazareth.- 

This  village,  nestling  down  in  its  deep  and  retired 
valley,  is  never  meutioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  and 
even  Josephus,  who  writes  about  a  dozen  places  within  a 
few  miles  of  it,  never  speaks  of  Nazareth.  It  was  an 
insignificant  and  quite  out  of  the  way  place,  far  from 
the  bustling,  noisy  world.  Yet  here  ]\Iary  was  to  rear 
the  appointed  Saviour  of  men.  Out  of  silence  and  ob- 
scurity w^as  io  come  in  the  appointed  time  the  Sav- 
iour of  mankind. 

Nor  must  you  suppose  it  was  a  desirable  community 
to  live  in.  Those  who  wrestle  with  the  giant  vices  that 
gather  in  great  cities  often  dream  that  in  a  quiet  little 
retired  village  it  would  be  easy  to  do  right,  but  Arcadian 
simplicity  and  purity  is  seldom  anything  more  than  a 
dream.     Those  people  of  Nazareth  were  singularly  bad. 

They  showed  towards  Jesus  himself  a  rudeness  and 
ferocity  to  which  we  know  of  no  parallel  in  his  minis- 
try.    They  rejected  him  rudely.     They  tried  to  take  his 


128  THE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS. 

life.  And  one  of  whom  Jesus  said  that  he  was  an 
Israelite  in  whom  there  was  no  guile,  and  who  lived  in 
a  neighboring  village,  asked  in  astonishment,  ^'  Can 
anything  good  come  out  of  Nazareth?''  It  was  a  bad 
place.  And  Mary  lived  among  those  rude  people. of 
Kazareth. 

Besides  knowing  the  place  of  her  abode,  we  know  of 
]\Iary  that  she  was  familiar  ,with  Scripture.  For  when 
the  great  time  in  her  life  came,  and,  inspired,  she  burst 
out  into  praise,  almost  every  expression  she  uses  is  from 
the  Old  Testament.  Her  whole  mind  and  heart  were 
full  of  the  sacred  writings,  so  that  their  language  came 
spontaneously  to  her  lips.  That  is  an  important  point; 
she  was  familiar  with  the  Scriptures. 

2.  In  the  next  place,  think  of  Mary's  belief  and  re- 
joicing. There  came  to  her  the  most  wonderful  promise 
that  ever  was  made  on  earth,  and  the  most  incredible. 
It  seemed  at  first  blush  to  be  impossible,  and  the  ques- 
tion she  asked  concerning  it  touched  that  very  point. 
She  said  :  ^'  How  can  these  things  be  ?  "  It  is  in  that 
respect  we  see  an  instructive  difference  between  Mary 
and  Zachariah.  Zachariah  said  :  ^'  How  shall  I  know 
this,  seeing  I  am  an  old  man  and  my  wife  is  old  ?"  He 
speaks  as  a  man  not  disposed  to  believe  and  who  insists 
upon  having  better  proof.  But  Mary  speaks  as  one 
who  is  disposed  to  believe,  and  asks  only  to  have  an 
apparent  impossibility  removed,  that  she  may  believe. 
You  see  here  two  types  of  character,  two  states  of  mind, 
such  as  often  exist  with  us  in  relation  to  the  Scriptures. 
There  are  people  that  present  their  difficulties  in  such  a 
way  as  to  show  plainly  that  they  are  like  Zachariah  ;  they 


THE    MOTIIEK   OF   JESUS.  129 

don't  mnch  vrant  to  believe,  and  they  insist  on  their 
difficulties  and  cherish  them,  and  are  not  anxious  you 
should  remove  them.  There  are  others  who  have  sore 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  believing,  so  that  we  owe  them 
our  tender  respect  and  sympathy,  who  are  asking  only 
that  they  may  get  rid  of  what  seems  to  them  to  stand  in 
the  way,  so  that  they  may  believe.  God  be  gracious  to 
all  such  !  God  help  them  out  of  their  trouble  !  JNIary 
believed,  not  "because  it  was  impossible,"  as  a  Latin 
Father  once  rhetorically  said;  she  believed  notwith- 
standing it  seemed  impossible,  because  it  was  expressly 
ascribed  to  the  power  of  God.  "  The  Holy  Ghost  shall 
come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest  shall 
overshadow  thee.''  And  Mary  said :  ''  Behold  the 
hand-maid  of  the  Lord ;  be  it  unto  me  according  to  thy 
word."  We  do  not  want  to  believe  a  thing  that  is  impos- 
sible, but,  like  Mary,  we  have  to  believe  what  includes 
many  elements  that  are  incomprehensible.  In  the  nature  of 
things  it  must  be  so.  There  was  much  that  Mary  could 
not  understand,  and  as  the  years  came  and  went  she  did 
not  understand  them  still. 

When  the  shepherds  came  after  the  babe  had  been 
actually  born,  and  reported  what  the  angels  had  said,  we 
are  told  that  Mary  "  kept  all  these  things  and  pondered 
them  in  her  heart."  She  could  not  know  the  meaning. 
When  Simeon,  in  the  Temple,  said  such  wonderful 
things  about  the  child,  we  read  that  Mary  and  Jose]:>h 
wondered  about  all  these  things  that  were  told  concerning 
him ;  and  when  the  child  showed  such  extraordinary 
knowledge  at  twelve  years  of  age,  we  are  told  that 
Mary  and  Joseph  were  amazed.  It  v,as  necessary  that 
9 


130  THE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS. 

tliey  should  not  understand  it.  If  the  reality  as  to  what 
it  was  had  forced  itself  upon  them,  it  would  have  been 
impossible  that  they  should  have  lived  under  the  same 
roof.     So  Mrs.  Browning  makes  her  say : 

"  Bright  angels, — move  not ! — lest  ye  stir  the  cloud 
Betwixt  my  soul  and  his  futurity ! 
I  must  not  die,  with  mother's  work  to  do, 
And  could  not  live — and  see." 

In  the  very  idea  of  an  incarnation  there  are  necessa- 
rily many  things  incomprehensible.  My  friends,  if  you 
take  this  Bible,  which  comes  so  strangely  home  to  all 
our  spiritual  wants,  which,  in  all  seasons  of  conscious 
spiritual  weakness,  oifers  the  very  strength  we  need, 
which  affords  us  that  help  against  sin  which  is  not  found 
anywhere  else  in  this  world — this  Bible,  which  the  more 
progress  we  make  in  trying  to  do  right,  seems  the  more 
sweetly  adapted  to  all  our  spiritual  wants — if  you  take 
this  Bible,  you  find  that  it  reveals  an  incarnation,  and 
that  this,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  involves  many 
things  that  seem  almost  impossible.  There  must  be  ever 
so  many  allusions  to  things  in  which  we  can  make  no 
progress  at  all,  as  to  comprehending  their  nature.  AYe 
are  in  Mary's  position.  We  are  not  expected  to  believe 
an  impossibility,  but  warranted  and  bound  to  believe  an 
assured  fact,  notwithstanding  there  be  many  things 
about  it  whose  nature  we  cannot  possibly  comprehend. 
It  seems  that  this  distinction  might  have  value  to  any 
one  troubled  about  these  problems,  and  anxious  to  re- 
ceive the  truth. 

Notice,  further,  that  Mary,  in  believing,  rejoices.   She 


THE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS.  131 

said:  "My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord;  from  hence- 
forth all  generations  shall  call  me  happy/'  It  was  a 
wonderful  thing,  that  young  girl,  the  child  of  poverty, 
in  that  little  out  of  the  way  village,  daring  to  say  that 
all  coming  generations  should  know  of  her  and  call  her 
happy ;  but  she  said  it,  because  God  had  promised.  She 
said  it  with  no  idea  of  personal  merit,  with  no  thought 
of  personal  pride,  but  because  God  had  promised.  If 
one  of  you  should  stand  here  by  my  side,  and  we  two 
should,  with  the  most  genuine  humility  in  our  power, 
say  we  think  we  are  children  of  God,  we  hope  we 
shall  be  blessed  forever  in  Heaven,  we  are  confident  we 
shall  dwell  amid  the  purity  and  glory  of  the  better 
world,  there  are  some  people  ready  enough — I  know  not 
that  there  are  such  here  present,  but  you  find  cases  of 
that  sort  everywhere — there  are  some  people  ready 
enough  to  say  :  "  You  think  a  great  deal  of  yourselves ; 
you  count  yourselves  favorites  of  heaven,"  and  all  that. 
Yet,  in  fact,  the  profession  would  be  made  not  in  self- 
complacency,  but  in  simple,  humble  reliance  on  a  divine 
promise.  And  Avhy  should  not  a  human  heart  trust  a 
divine  promise,  as  then,  so  now  and  henceforward  and 
for  ever  more,  and  trusting  a  divine  promise,  rejoice  in  a 
divine  hope  ? 

3.  In  the  third  place,  think  of  Mary  training  her  child. 
We  know  somethino^  of  the  nature  of  that  trainino^.  We 
have  read  of  young  Timothy,  that  from  a  child  he  knew 
the  Holy  Scripture  that  his  mother  and  grandmother  had 
taught  him,  and  had  learned  to  share  the  faith  that  was 
in  them.  That  is  a  picture  we  may  transfer  to  the  hum- 
ble home  of  the  carpenter  in  Nazareth.      That  child 


132  TPIE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS. 

needed  to  be  trained.  Do  we  not  read  that  he  grew  in 
wisdom  and  stature  ?  If  he  increased  in  wisdom,  there 
was  need  of  education.  We  find  that  the  mother  trusted 
him  almost  without  bound.  And  we  know  that  he 
was  really  what  children  so  often  imagine  themselves  to 
be,  wiser  than  his  parents.  Yet,  he  v/ent  down  with 
them  and  was  subject  to  them.  The  human  mind  has 
to  grow.  If  there  was  a  real  incarnation,  the  human 
mind  had  to  grow.  It  needed  to  be  developed.  There 
was  room  for  education.  There  was  demand  for  it.  Yea, 
and  he  himself,  toward  the  close  of  his  ministry,  must 
have  meant  the  same  thing  as  to  the  capacity  of  the 
human  mind  to  contain  knowledge,  when  he  said:  "Of 
that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man,  not  even  the  angels 
in  heaven,  nor  even  the  Son,  but  the  Father  only.^'  The 
human  mind  cannot  know  all  thin2:s.  And  our  Lord's 
human  mind  could  not  hold  all  knowledge.  Such  is  the 
declaration  of  the  record,  that  his  mind  grew  in  wisdom 
as  his  body  grew  in  stature,  and  Mary  was  the  mother 
that  trained  him.  It  seems  idle  sometimes  for  a  poor 
toiling  mother  to  indulge  in  the  romantic  ideas  which  poets 
and  novelists  write  about  a  mother's  high  mission ;  and 
yet  it  is  good  for  such  a  one,  amid  trial  and  sacrifice  and 
suffering  and  struggles,  to  remember,  and  comfort  herself 
in  remembering,  that  hers  is  a  high  mission.  After  all, 
the  noblest  thing  that  is  done  in  this  world  is  when  a 
mother  does  in  truth  and  wisdom  and  fear  of  God  train 
up  a  child.  Let  us  all  stand  back  in  her  presence.  Let 
us  call  upon  all  men  whose  aspirations  are  the  highest, 
whose  work  is  tlie  noblest,  to  stand  aside  and  acknowl- 
edge cheerfully,  "  Hers  is  the  best  work,  hers  is  the  no- 


THE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS.  133 

blest  work  done  in  the  world.'^  And  if  that  be  the  case, 
it  must  be  a  work  of  sacrifice  and  suffering,  for  there  is 
nothing  good  ever  done  on  earth  save  with  sacrifice.  Let 
the  toiling  mother  solace  herself  with  the  thought  that 
all  motherhood  has  been  dignified  and  made  sublime  by 
the  young  mother  in  the  little  town  of  Galilee,  who  was 
training  in  an  humble  home  that  child  that  was  to  be 
the  Saviour  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  the  universe. 
It  was  a  unique  task  no  doubt,  and  yet  I  say  it  has  en- 
nobled all  motherhood,  and  any  struggling,  sorrowing 
mother  may  take  comfort  in  the  thought  that  she  is  en- 
gaged in  a  like  good  work.  Blessed  be  God !  what 
mother  here  knows  of  the  high  possibilities  that  are  be- 
fore her  child?  What  Christian  mother  can  fail  to 
know  of  that  supreme  possibility,  that  blessed  certainty, 
that  she  trains  up  a  spirit  immortal  when  she  brings  up 
a  child  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 

But,  now,  please  observe  that  Mary  must  have  trained 
this  child  in  the  knowledge  of  God's  word.  My  friends 
who  are  parents,  we  abuse  everything  ;  and  so  we  abuse 
the  benefits  of  the  Sunday-school.  There  is  grievous  dan- 
ger that  we  parents  shall  turn  over  to  the  Sunday-school 
our  parental  duty  of  training  our  children  in  God's 
word.  It  is  one  of  the  perils  of  our  time.  Though  we 
have  those  in  the  Sunday-school  to  help  us  in  the  task, 
and  ought  to  be  heartily  thankful  for  their  help,  yet  the 
work  is  ours  none  die  less,  and  the  work  will,  for  the 
most  part,  remain  undone  unless  we  do  it — the  work  of 
training  our  children  in  the  knowledge  of  God's  word. 
Let  us  train  them  to  look  at  God's  word  as  the  guide  of 
their  life.   I  read  somewhere  of  a  mother  whose  husband 


134  THE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS. 

was  a  grossly  wicked  man,  who  used  to  cry"  out  against 
all  thinirs  religious,  and  declared  that  he  believed  not  in 
God ;  yet  she  reared  up  a  number  of  children  by  his 
side,  and  they  all  became  Christians.  Some  friend  asked 
if  she  would  tell  how  she  managed  this.  She  said,  ^^  I 
never  set  my  word  against  their  father's,  but  when  he 
says  anything  against  God's  service,  I  hunt  up  a  passage 
and  say,  ^  Your  father  says  so  and  so,  but  here  is  what 
your  heavenly  Father  says,'  and  then  I  read  it  to  them.'' 
That  was  all  the  secret  she  had,  but  what  a  blessed 
secret ! 

Parents,  learn  to  have  the  Scriptures  on  your  tongue's 
end  for  the  benefit  of  your  children.  Good  old  John 
Wesley  was  a  trifle  superstitious,  after  the  fashion  of  his 
time,  when  he  used  to  open  the  Bible  at  random  and 
make  use  of  whatever  text  he  happened  first  to  light 
upon.  Far  better  than  that  is  it  for  us  to  have  the 
mind  so  full  of  the  Scriptures,  their  teachings  so  familiar 
to  our  thought,  that  whenever  we  need  one  of  them  it 
will  come  by  natural  association  of  ideas.  And  so  Mr. 
Moody  has  taught  all  of  us  that  if  we  can  get  some  happy 
quotation  of  Scripture,  it  will  be  worth  more  than  all 
our  wisdom  in  explaining  a  difficulty  to  an  inquirer. 

4.  I  pass  on  to  say  a  word  as  to  a  later  point  in 
Mary's  history.  She  seems  to  have  unwarrantably  in- 
terfered in  the  ministry  of  her  son.  At  the  wedding  at 
Cana  she  suggested  for  him  a  course  of  action,  and  he 
said  :  "  Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with  thee,"  or  rather 
" What  have  we  to  do  with  each  other?"  There  was 
nothing  harsh  in  this,  but  there  was  an  intimation  that 
they  had  entered  into  new  relations,  that  he  who  had 


THE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS.  135 

been  to  her  as  a  child  to  its  mother  could  not  be  con- 
trolled by  her  in  his  public  action,  and  she  must  draw 
back.  A  year  or  two  later,  when  Jesus  was  teaching  all 
the  morning  in  a  crowded  house,  and  there  were  so  many 
questions  to  be  answered  that  they  had  not  time  for  the 
mid-day  meal,  we  read  that  "his  friends^'  went  forth 
to  seize  him,  for  they  said,  "  he  is  beside  himself.'^  Now, 
put  the  Gospel  histories  together,  and  it  appears  that 
those  friends  were  his  mother  and  his  brothers ;  and 
when  they  sent  him  a  message  over  the  heads  of  the 
crowd  in  the  house,  that  his  mother  and  brothers  were 
without  and  wanted  to  see  him,  the  answer,  too,  is  very 
remarkable.  He  said :  "  Who  is  my  mother,  and  who 
are  my  brothers  ? "  And  he  looked  around  in  a  circle 
upon  those  that  sat  about  him  and  said  :  "  Behold  my 
mother  and  my  brothers ;  for  whosoever  shall  do  the  will 
of  God,  he  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother.''  His 
kindred  were  seeking  to  interfere  with  his  work,  and 
said  he  was  beside  himself.  No  wonder  men  call  Chris- 
tian earnestness  fanaticism.  Jesus  himself,  the  founder 
of  it  all — they  said  he  was  crazy.  His  own  mother  and 
his  brothers  said  this  because  he  was  in  earnest.  What 
a  comfort  there  is  for  all  of  us  in  the  application  he 
made  of  their  request :  "  Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of 
my  Father  in  Heaven,  he  is  my  brother,  and  sister, 
and  mother.'^  How  does  a  man  love  his  brother? 
Think  of  the  warm  affection  with  which  a  man  cher- 
ishes his  brother.  Then  think  of  the  tenderness  with 
which  a  manly  nature  loves  a  sister.  Then  add  to  these, 
yea,  compass  them  all  around  with  the  love  that  a  real 
man  has  for  his  mother — a  love  that  will  ever  grow  as 


136  THE   MOTIIEPw   OF   JESUS. 

he  grows  older — and  now  consider.  Jesus  has  said — it 
may  inchide  you  and'  me,  with  all  our  unworthiness — 
"  Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God  is  as  dear  to  me 
as  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother."  The  Scriptures 
contixin  many  wonderful  things,  but  what  more  w^onder- 
ful  than  those  words  ? 

5.  There  is  one  other  theme,  of  which  I  know  not 
how  to  speak — Mary  at  the  cross.  Description  is  here 
dumb.  Imagination  stands  in  mute  w^onder.  There 
are  many  points  of  view  from  which  to  look  at  the  cross, 
and  one  not  the  least  instructive,  no  doubt,  would  be  to 
try  to  place  yourself  in  imagination  beside  that  sorrowing 
mother,  through  whose  heart  now — according  to  old 
Simeon's  prediction  long  before — a  sword  w^as  passing, 
a  sword  of  cruel  suffering  and  death.  You  would  re- 
member how  suffering  is  the  inevitable  consequence  of 
sin  in  this  w^orld,  how  suffering  was  the  necessary  con- 
dition of  human  salvation,  even  that  poor  mother's  suf- 
fering as  she  looked  upon  her  atoning  son.  Then  re- 
member how  out  of  his  death  came  life  again,  and  out 
of  that  sorrow  came  springing  joy.  I  cannot  speak  of 
that ;  who  can  ?  But  you  might  sit  down  sometime  and 
tliink  it  all  over.  Try  to  stand  beside  the  mother  at  the 
cross,  try  to  imagine  how  she  felt,  and  try,  also,  to  im- 
agine how  he  felt  towards  her ;  for  amid  all  the  strange 
sorrow  of  that  dark  hour,  he  that  was  dying  thought  of  his 
widowed  mother,  and  felt,  as  every  true  man  feels,  that 
he  must  make  some  provision  for  her  future.  Yea, 
amid  that  great  event  of  the  universe,  with  that  dark- 
ness settling  down  upon  all  his  soul  as  the  sin-bearer,  he 
made  provision  for  his  widowed  mother.     Yet,  what  a 


THE   MOTHER   OF   JESUS.  137 

simple  provision  it  was  !  He  had  a  loving  friend,  and 
to  him  he  said  :  "  Take  her ;  do  you  be  her  son  and  she 
will  be  your  mother/^  and  that  was  all. 

6.  And  now,  finally,  think  a  moment  of  Mary  in 
heaven.  If  ever  there  comes  a  pang  to  the  glorified 
ones,  methinks  Mary  must  look  down  with  unutterable 
grief  upon  the  thousands  and  millions  that  almost  wor- 
ship her  instead  of  worshiping  her  son,  the  Saviour. 

"  O  centuries 
That  roll,  in  vision,  your  futurities 

My  future  grave  athwart, — 
Whose  murmurs  seem  to  reach  me  while  I  keep 

Watch  o'er  this  sleep, — 
Say  of  me  as  the  Heavenly  said — '  Thou  art 
The  blessedest  of  women  !' — blessedest, 
Not  holiest,  not  noblest — no  high  name, 
Whose  height  misplaced  may  pierce  me  like  a  shame, 
When  I  sit  meek  in  heaven  !  " 

— Mrs.  Browning,  The  True  Mary. 

It  is  not  unnatural,  it  is  because  they  have  forgotten 
that  he,  the  divine  one,  is  himself  human.  The  human 
heart  longs  after  human  sympathy,  and  the  consciences  of 
guilty  men  make  them  wish  for  a  human  mediator  be- 
tween themselves  and  the  God  they  shrink  from.  Luther 
tells  us  that  in  youth,  with  his  Romish  education,  he 
was  afraid  of  Christ.  He  never  heard  a  word  said  about 
Christ,  save  as  the  babe  in  the  mother's  arms,  or  the 
sacrifice  on  the  cross,  or  the  Judge  in  the  last  day.  His 
idea  was  that  he  must  call  upon  the  saints,  and  especially 
upon  the  Virgin  Mary,  to  pity  him  and  intercede  for 
him  with   Christ.      When  people  have  such  views  of 


138  THE   MOTHER  OF   JESUS. 

Christ,  no  wonder  they  seek  some  human  mediator.  The 
only  cure  for  it  all  is  to  know  that  Christ  the  divine  was 
truly  human,  that  Mary  was  no  more  truly  human  than 
was  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Mary.  Truly  divine  and  also 
truly  human,  he  is  able  to  sympathize  with  us  in  our 
infirmities,  to  lay  a  hand  of  love  and  pity  upon  our  poor 
sinful  heads,  and  yet,  with  the  other  hand,  to  lay  hold 
upon  the  very  pillars  of  God's  throne,  and  to  be  our 
Advocate  with  the  Father,  our  one  Mediator, — all  the 
Mediator  we  need  or  should  desire.  O  Jesus,  son  of 
Mary,  and  yet  Son  of  God,  before  the  mystery  of  thine 
Incarnation  we  bow,  and  trusting  in  the  mystery  of 
thine  intercession,  we  pray  thee  make  us,  make  us, 
wholly  thine  ! 


X. 

THE  APOSTLE  PAUL  AS  A  PREACHER  * 

Unto  me,  who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace  given, 
that  I  should  preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.— Eph.  3  :  8. 

NUMEROUS  as  were  the  functions  of  the  Apostle 
Paul,  he  was,  most  of  all  things,  a  preacher  of  the 
gospel.  The  fact  is  prominent  in  his  history,  and  was 
deeply  felt  by  himself.  Everything,  with  him,  was  made 
subordinate  to  this  vocation.  His  whole  life  was  wrapped 
up  in  it.  Though  often  sad  and  weary,  and  not  un- 
frequently  (it  would  seem)  desponding,  he  never  turned 
aside  from  this  great  work.  When  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers gathered  around,  when  foes  were  threatening  and 
timid  friends  entreating,  he  could  say,  "  But  none  of 
these  things  move  me;  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto 
myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and 
the  ministry  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.^^ 

And  Paul  was  the  greatest  of  all  preachers.  Of 
course,  we  omit  from  the  comparison  him  who  spake 
"  as  never  man  spake."  There  was  in  his  preaching 
such  a  continual  self-assertion,  such  a  sublime  and 
holy    egotism,    that    in    this,    as    in   every   other  re- 

*  Sermon  as  chaplain  to  the  University  of  Virginia,  May,  1857. 
Printed  in  pamphlet  form  at  the  request  of  many  students  and  of  the 
professors. 

139 


140  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL  AS  A  PREACHER. 

spect,  his  character  is  unique  and  peculiar,  and  we 
never  think  of  comparing  him  v/ith  any  mere  man. 
There  have  been  many  gifted  men,  gifted  by  nature  and 
grace,  who  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry ;  God  be  thanked  for  them  all,  and  God  grant 
that  there  may  be  many  more  hereafter !  but  in  the  esti- 
mation of  every  one  who  diligently  studies  his  character 
and  history,  Paul  must  stand,  among  all  preachers,  un- 
rivalled and  alone.  Thoroughly  to  analyze  his  great 
powers  is  a  task  for  which  I  have  no  talent,  and  my 
hearers,  under  present  circumstances,  would  perhaps 
have  little  inclination.  I  mean  only  to  present  some 
points  in  connection  Avith  Paul  as  a  preacher,  the  con- 
sideration of  which  I  trust  may  be  blessed  to  our  benefit. 
1.  The  first  of  these  points  is  mentioned  mainly  be- 
cause of  its  relation  to  what  w411  follow.  It  is  the 
remarkable  adaptation  of  his  preaching  to  the  particular 
audience.  He  has  himself  stated  the  principle  upon 
which  he  acted  in  seeking  this  adaptation  :  "  I  am  made 
all  things  to  all  men."  This  saying  has  come  to  be 
grossly  perverted,  being  constantly  applied  as  a  reproach 
to  the  fickle  and  time-serving.  The  apostle  has  just 
before  said  what  perfectly  explains  it :  "  To  the  Jews  I 
became  as  a  Jew,  that  I  might  gain  the  Jews ;  .  .  . 
to  them  that  are  without  law,  as  without  law  .  .  .  that 
I  might  gain  them  that  are  without  law.  To  the  weak 
became  I  as  weak,  that  I  might  gain  the  weak :  I  am 
made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I  might  by  all  means 
save  some/'  He  elsewhere  declares  the  same  principle 
iis  regulating  his  general  conduct :  "  Even  as  I  please 
all  men  in  all  things,  that  they  might  be  saved." 


THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS   A   PREACHER.  141 

We  have  striking  illustrations  of  this,  in  some  of  his 
recorded  discourses. 

At  Antioch,  in  Pisidia,  he  preached  first  in  the  syna- 
gogue, to  Jews  and  proselytes.  Here  he  conformed,  as 
did  Stephen  in  his  address  before  the  Sanhedrin,  to  the 
Jewish  custom  of  commencing  with  a  sketch  of  the 
national  history.  This  would  conciliate  his  audience, 
by  bringing  to  mind  facts  of  which  they  were  all  proud, 
and  in  wdiich  he  and  they  had  a  common  interest ;  and 
from  one  point  or  another  of  that  history  the  speaker 
could  easily  and  gracefully  turn,  as  did  Paul  on  this  oc- 
casion, to  the  subject  on  which  he  wished  to  dwell. 
The  promised  seed  of  David  he  declared  was  come  in 
the  person  of  Jesus.  He  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the 
condemnation,  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  were  in 
fulfilment  of  prophecies  which  they  all  believed.  He 
proclaimed  to  them  through  Jesus  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,  and  that  complete  justification,  to  the  believer, 
which  could  not  be  obtained  through  the  law  of  Moses. 
He  w^arned  them  not  to  neglect  this  proclamation,  in 
language  quoted  from  a  prophet.  All  is  from  the  Jew- 
ish point  of  view,  and  after  the  Jewish  method ;  to  the 
Jews  he  became  as  a  Jew,  that  he  might  gain  the  Jews ; 
and  thus  regarded,  nothing  could  be  more  felicitous  than 
the  conduct  of  this  address. 

At  Lystra,  when  he  had  wrought  a  miracle  of  heal- 
ing, and  the  astonished  and  ignorant  pagans  were  about 
to  offer  sacrifice  to  him  and  Barnabas,  as  being  "the 
gods  come  down  in  the  likeness  of  men,''  he  spoke,  to 
restrain  them,  a  few  w^ords  which  contained  the  simplest 
truths   of   natural    religion  :    "  Sirs,  wdiy  do   ye  these 


142  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL  AS  A  PREACHER. 

things  ?  We  also  are  men  of  like  passions  with  you, 
and  preach  uuto  you  that  ye  should  turn  from  these 
vanities  unto  the  living  God,  which  made  heaven,  and 
earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  things  that  are  therein:  who 
in  times  past  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in  their  own 
ways  :  nevertheless,  he  left  not  himself  without  witness, 
in  that  he  did  good,  and  gave  us  rain  from  heaven, 
and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  our  hearts  with  food  and 
gladness."  These  truths  were  obviously  appropriate  to 
the  occasion,  and  we  learn  that  they  sufficed  to  accom- 
plish the  apostle's  object.  But  it  is  stated,  concerning 
the  same  visit  to  Lystra,  that  ^^  there  they  preached 
the  Gospel,''  and  that  when  he  had  been  stoned,  "  the 
disciples  stood  round  about  him.^'  We  see  then  that  his 
general  preaching  at  that  place  was  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  natural  religion. 

At  Athens,  every  one  has  been  struck  by  the  skill 
with  which  he  sought  to  avoid  offending  the  prejudices 
or  violating  the  laws  of  his  hearers.  He  began  by  com- 
plimenting them  as  in  all  respects  an  uncommonly 
religious  people.  He  availed  himself  of  an  altar  '^  to 
the  unknown  god,"  to  speak  of  the  true  God  without 
incurring  the  penalty  denounced  against  the  introduction 
of  new  deities.  In  a  few  brief  sentences,  he  assailed, 
pointedly  but  courteously,  several  leading  errors  which 
j)revailcd  among  the  Athenians,  particularly  their  idol- 
atry and  their  proud  conceit  of  distinct  national  origin. 
He  quoted,  not  inspired  Hebrew  prophets,  but  a  senti- 
ment found  in  the  writings  of  two  Greek  poets,  one  of 
them  from  his  native  Cilicia.  And  he  carefully  delayed 
to  the  close  his  declaration  of  the  fact,  so  important,  yet 


THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS   A   PREACHER.  143 

SO  likely  to  be  rejected,  that  Christ  had  been  raised  from 
the  dead.  Was  ever  any  discourse  more  skilfully 
adapted  ? 

So,  when  standing  before  Felix,  he  did  not  directly 
denounce  the  tyrant's  vices,  for  of  course  he  would  not 
have  been  heard  for  a  moment,  but  he  dwelt  upon  the 
opposite  virtues.  To  a  wicked  man  he  spoke  of  right- 
eousness ;  to  an  incontinent  man,  of  self-control ;  to  an 
unjust  earthly  judge,  of  the  judgment  to  come. 

A  similar  skill  in  adaptation,  and  care  to  conciliate,  is 
observable  in  the  Apostle's  letters.  You  can  form  a 
tolerably  complete  idea  of  the  history  and  present  con- 
dition of  a  Church,  or  of  the  character  and  circumstances 
of  an  individual,  from  his  letters  to  such  an  individual 
or  Church.  And  you  see  everywhere  how  observant  he 
is  of  all  courtesies  and  charities,  how  careful  first  to 
commend  what  he  can  in  those  who  must  on  other 
accounts  be  censured,  how  anxious  to  win  and  save  even 
amid  his  severest  rebukes. 

The  limit  to  this  desire  to  please,  the  Apostle  has 
clearly  defined ;  as  when  he  reminds  the  Thessalonians 
that  he  had  not  practiced  any  trickery  in  preaching,  nor 
used  flattering  words,  nor  sought  glory  of  men  ;  "but 
as  we  were  allowed  of  God  to  be  put  in  trust  with  the 
gospel,  even  so  we  speak  ;  not  as  pleasing  men,  but  God, 
which  trieth  our  hearts."  However  great  his  disposition 
to  conciliate,  he  would  not  sacrifice  principle — would 
never  offend  God,  to  please  men. 

Now,  with  all  this  variety  of  adaptation  to  particular 
hearers,  connect 

2.  His  adhering  constantly  to  the  great  central  truths 


144  THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS   A    PREACHER. 

of  the  gospel.  That  cross,  in  which  alone  he  "gloried/' 
Avhich  alone  he  "determined  to  know,"  is  always  before 
his  mind.  Widely  as  he  ranges  over  the  fields  of  truth 
and  duty,  he  never  loses  sight  of  that  grand  central 
object;  never  ceases  to  feel  himself  in  its  presence. 
Every  doctrine,  and  every  precept,  is  presented  in  such 
a  way  that  we  feel  it  to  have  relation  to  the  atoning 
work  of  our  Saviour.  For  instance,  servants  are  urged 
to  be  honest  and  obedient,  "  that  they  may  adorn  the 
doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things.'^  Husbands 
are  exhorted  to  "  love  their  wives,  even  as  Christ  also 
loved  the  Church;"  and  wives  to  "submit  themselves 
unto  their  own  husbands,  as  unto  the  Lord  ;  for  the  hus- 
band is  the  head  of  the  wife,  even  as  Christ  is  the  head 
of  the  Church."  When  pressing  upon  the  Corinthians 
the  duty  of  giving  for  the  relief  of  their  poor  brethren, 
he   adds,   "Thanks  be  unto  God  for  his  unspeakable 

gift." 

The  example  of  Paul  in  this  respect  is  not  always 
followed.  In  seeking  for  adaptation,  how  often  do  men 
fail  to  adhere  to  these  same  great  truths?  Very  anxious 
to  make  the  sermon  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  accom- 
modated to  the  prejudices,  or  suited  to  the  taste  of  tlie 
audience,  tliey  neglect  to  have  it  present  the  essence  of 
the  gospel— to  have  it  full  of  those  truths  which  relate 
to  sin  and  salvation.  How  much  preaching,  by  able  and 
earnest  men,  is  thus  comparatively  lost,  as  to  all  the 
most  important  ends  of  preaching  the  gospel !  Those 
men,  and  classes  of  men,  who  have  been  eminently 
useful  as  ministers,  in  actually  converting  sinners  and 
building  up  believers,  have  been  remarkable  for  con- 


THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS    A   PREACHETl.  145 

stantly  reiterating,  in  however  various  connections,  and 
with  whatever  freshness  of  illustration,  the  same  funda- 
mental, saving  truths.  A  glance  at  the  history  of  the 
most  successful  preachers  would  show  this  to  be  true. 
It  is  true  now  of  all  the  really  useful  among  "  reviv^al 
preachers ;"  and  of  many  a  plain  man,  whose  extraordi- 
nary success  it  is  difficult  to  account  for,  until  we  observ^e 
the  constant  recurrence  in  his  discourses  of  the  truths 
which  belong  to  salvation.  Surely  the  most  gifted  and 
cultivated  ought  to  imitate  this  excellent  peculiarity; 
surely  right-minded  hearers  ought  to  prefer  and  encour- 
age it.  Let  the  preacher,  like  Paul,  adapt,  conciliate, 
please;  but  let  him,  also  like  Paul,  bring  everything  into 
relation  to  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  for  otherwise  he  is 
not  preaching  the  gospel  at  all. 

3.  Observe,  again,  the  Apostle's  simplicity  and  direct- 
ness in  presenting  the  truth.  Every  one  is  familiar 
Avith  his  defence,  in  the  beginning  of  the  first  letter  to 
the  Corinthians,  of  his  course  in  this  particular.  We 
know  how  he  was  complained  of  for  the  plainness  of  his 
mode  of  preaching,  and  how  he  resisted  all  the  pressure, 
and  would  not  practice  the  artificial  rhetoric  which  was 
then  fashionable. 

Indeed,  we  are  unwilling  to  think  of  him  as  acting 
otherwise.  Whether  we  consider  Paul's  personal  char- 
acter, or  the  fact  of  his  inspiration,  it  is  felt  to  be  inap- 
propriate and  unworthy  that  he  should  be  searching 
after  mere  prettinesses,  should  be  seeking  to  heighten 
the  simple  loveliness  of  heavenly  truth,  by  the  meretri- 
cious adornments  of  a  would-be  eloquence.  And  there 
is  significance  in  this  strong,  instinctive  feeling.  If  it 
10 


146  THE   APOSTLE   PAUL  AS   A   PREACHER. 

would  have  been  wrong  for  Paul,  how  is  it  right  for 
others,  who,  though  humble  and  uninspired,  are  yet 
proclaiming  the  same  divinely-given  truths,  and  should 
be  keeping  in  view  the  same  sublime  object,  to  save 
men's  souls  ? 

At  the  same  time,  all  know  that  the  Apostle's  speak- 
ing- and  writing  possess  much  of  real  beauty.  It  need 
not  be  misunderstood  if  w^e  say  that  Paul  is  an  eminent 
example  of  the  right  use  of  imagination.  Among  his 
remarkable  combination  of  mental  qualities,  it  is  clear 
that  he  possessed  imagination  of  a  high  ordei*.  It  is  not 
shown  by  elaborate  and  multiplied  figures  for  mere  or- 
nament. Occasionally  we  meet  \vith  an  unobtrusive 
image  of  exquisite  beauty;  as  when,  in  the  address  at 
Athens,  he  represents  men  as  groping  in  their  blindness 
after  an  object  that  is  near:  ^'That  they  should  seek  the 
Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him,  and  find  Aim, 
though  he  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us."  But  his 
power  of  imagination  is  seen  mainly  in  the  shaping  of 
his  thoughts  in  general ;  in  the  clear  and  delicate  out- 
line given  to  each  particular  thought,  whether  argument 
or  precept,  as  it  came  moulded  from  his  mind.  It  is  in 
the  same  way  that  we  find  the  finest  imagination  em- 
ployed by  all  the  men  who  have  been  most  truly  elo- 
quent, by  Demosthenes  and  Daniel  Webster,  by  Chry- 
sostom  and  Robert  Hall.  They  could  not  have  been 
eloquent  without  possessing  this  faculty  in  an  eminent 
degree ;  but  they  have  used  it,  not  to  send  oif  mere  fire- 
works of  fancy,  but  to  heat  into  a  glow  the  solid  body 
of  their  thought.  The  beautiful  is  thus  by  no  means 
aljured,  but   subordinated.     The   gratification   of  our 


THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS    A    PREACHER.  147 

aesthetic  sensibilities  may  render  great  service,  as  auxil- 
iary to  the  instruction,  conviction,  persuasion,  which  are 
the  great  objects  of  preaching  the  gospel ;  but  it  must 
always  be  held  auxiliary.  The  poet  and  the  novelist 
aim  to  please,  and  incidentally  to  instruct ;  the  preacher 
to  do  men  good,  and  to  please  only  as  contributing  to 
this  higher  end. 

I  have  a  practical  object  in  saying  all  this,  which  may 
justify  what  would  else  be  perhaps  out  of  place.  Not  a 
little  of  the  preaching  done  by  good  men  is  weighed 
down  by  rhetoric,  falsely  so-called.  The  evil  is  wide- 
spread and  well  known.  Its  existence  and  continuance 
are  not  wholly  due  directly  to  those  who  preach,  but  re- 
sult in  some  measure  from  the  wrong  taste  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  preacher  is  very  naturally  led  astray  by  this. 
He  sees  that  the  people  for  a  time  flock  to  hear,  and 
loudly  praise,  those  who  s{)eak  in  this  fashion.  He 
cannot  do  them  good  by  his  preaching  unless  they  will 
hear  him.  It  seems  necessary  to  yield  to  what  appears 
to  be  the  popular  taste,  though  known  to  be  false.  Es- 
pecially where  one  possesses  more  imagination  than 
sober  judgment,  such  a  process  of  reasoning  is  very 
likely  to  convince  him.  Some  little  allowance,  there- 
fore, may  commonly  be  made  for  those  who  show  this 
ambitiousness  of  style,  this  effort  after  eloquence. 

The  evil  must  be  corrected,  partly  by  preachers  them- 
selves; but  those  among  them  who  perceive  and  deplore 
it,  are  able  to  accomplish  comparatively  little  except  in 
their  own  case.  It  is  so  easy  to  break  the  force  of  the 
most  unanswerable  argument,  coming  from  them,  by  a 
sarcasm,  as  that  they  only  oppose  that  style  of  preaching 


148  THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS   A   PEEACHEH. 

of  which  they  do  not  happen  to  be  masters.  The  cure 
must  come  mainly  from  intelligent  men  who  are  not 
preachers.  They  can  powerfully  influence  public  senti- 
ment, and  they  ought  to  speak  their  mind.  There  can 
be  no  question  as  to  ^vhat  all  such  men  think  on  the 
subject,  but  they  are  often  restrained  from  strongly  ex- 
pressing their  opinion  by  a  false  delicacy,  a  mistaken 
respect  for  the  ministerial  office.  In  our  age  and  coun- 
try the  relation  of  preacher  and  hearers  must  be  freely 
discussed,  like  everything  else.  And  the  half-cultivated 
are  everywhere  doing  this.  The  merits,  not  so  much  of 
different  modes  of  preaching  as  of  different  preachers, 
form  a  prominent  topic  of  conversation  in  many  circles. 
That  bad  taste  which  forms  the  most  erroneous  opinions 
on  the  subject  is  also  boldest  in  expressing  them.  Thus 
the  evil  is  greatly  augmented  by  loud  voices  of  praise 
or  blame.  Cultivated  men  must  exert  themselves  to 
correct  it,  though  the  task  should  sometimes  painfully 
conflict  with  their  reverence  for  the  sacred  office.  They 
must  freely  commend  or  condemn,  not  only  general 
methods,  but  individual  examples.  I  call  upon  those 
wlio  have,  and  those  who  soon  wdll  have,  influence  over 
public  opinion,  as  they  value  God's  great  appointed 
means  of  converting  the  W'Orld,  to  do  what  they  can 
towards  correcting  the  popular  taste  ;  to  take  every  op- 
portunity and  means  of  showing  the  people  what  good 
taste  requires,  what  alone  is  appropriate  to  the  most 
solemn  of  all  earthly  positions,  that  of  the  man  who 
stands  up  to  preach  the  gospel. 

4.  Observe,  in  the  next  place,  the  Apostle's  tender- 
ness as  a  preacher.     Hear  him  speaking  of  false  profcs- 


THE    APOSTLE    PAUL    AS    A    PREACHER.  149 

sors  :  ^'  For  many  walk,  of  whom  I  have  told  you 
often,  and  now  tell  you  even  weeping ^  that  they  are  the 
enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ."  Hear  his  farewell 
words  to  the  elders  of  the  Church  at  Ephesus  :  "  And 
remember,  that  by  the  space  of  three  years,  I  ceased  not 
to  warn  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears.' ^  What  a 
scene  was  that — this  great  and  inspired  man,  speaking 
to  the  people  both  "  publicly  and  from  house  to  house,'^ 
warning  them  with  tears ;  telling  them  of  God's  amaz- 
ing love,  and  his  tremendous  wrath ;  of  their  guilt, 
their  helpless  condemnation,  and  the  one  way  of  salva- 
tion. Christians,  too,  he  warned  of  the  false  teachers 
that  should  enter  from  without,  like  grievous  wolves 
into  the  fold,  and  that  should  rise  up  among  themselves; 
and  he  would  weep  as  he  entreated  them  to  hold  fast 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  to  adorn  their  profession,  to 
live  for  the  salvation  of  men  and  the  glory  of  God. 
Thus,  night  and  day  for  three  years,  he  ceased  not  to 
warn  every  one  with  tears. 

And  why  should  not  Paul  weep  ?  and  every  preacher 
and  every  Christian  weep  ?  See  the  condition  of  our  fel- 
low-men, our  friends,  our  kindred,  as  depicted,  not  by  our 
wild  fancy  or  morbid  fears,  but  by  the  calm  teachings  of 
the  Word  of  God.  They  are  "condemned  already,'^  "  the 
wrath  of  God  abideth  on  them,''  their  "  steps  take  hold 
on  hell."  Can  we  half  realize  what  is  meant  by  these 
fearful  sayings,  and  not  weep  ?  But  worse.  We  tell 
them  of  the  Saviour,  who  died  that  we  might  live, 
and  W'ho  ever  lives  to  save;  we  tell  them  of  free  ])ar- 
don,  of  full  salvation,  to  every  penitent  believer  in  him  ; 
of   his   redeeming   love,  his  gracious    invitations   and 


150  THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS   A   PREACHER. 

precious  promises.  AVe  tell  of  eternal  bliss  and  eter- 
nal woe,  of  their  own  imminent  and  increasing  danger. 
We  urge  all  that  is  terrible  in  God's  wrath^  all  that 
is  moving  in  his  mercy.  And  they  listen  as  calmly, 
they  turn  away  as  unconcerned,  as  though  it  were  all 
a  trifle  or  a  dream.  O,  where  is  our  pity,  where  our 
love,  that  we  do  not  weep  tears  of  blood?  that  we 
do  not  say  with  the  Psalmist,  '^  Rivers  of  waters 
run  down  mine  eyes,  because  they  keep  not  thy 
law?'' 

It  is  well  that  the  gospel  induces  tenderness,  since 
the  preacher  has  to  speak  such  awful  truths.  It  is 
no  light  thing  to  look  into  the  eyes  of  one  you  know, 
and  respect,  and  love,  and  charge  him  with  being  a 
vile  sinner— charge  selfishness,  and  pride,  and  per- 
vading ungodliness,  upon  what  he  accounts  his  best 
actions ;  to  warn  him  of  the  wrath  to  come ;  to  bid 
him  tremble  lest  he  receive  deserved  damnation,  and 
reflect  now  what  will  be  his  unavailing  remorse  if  ^'  in 
hell  he  should  lift  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torment."  It 
is  well  that  the  gospel,  which,  along  with  its  promise  of 
salvation  to  the  believer,  requires  us  to  say,  ^' He  that 
belicveth  not  shall  be  damned,"  should  also  inspire  that 
feeling  of  tenderness  with  which  the  painful  duty  ought 
to  be  performed. 

But  let  us  look  again  at  the  Apostle's  tears.  Why 
should  Paul  weep  as  he  warned  ?  He  feared  that  his 
warning  might  be  in  vain  ;  and  often  it  was  in  vain. 
With  all  his  abilities  and  inspiration,  men  often  heard 
without  lieeding  ;  and  all  his  exhortations  in  many  cases 
iailed  to  re.>^train  even  professed  believers  from  shameful 


THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS   A   PREACHER.  151 

sin, from  utter  apostasy.  Need  we  be  surprised  that  the 
same  thing  happens  now? 

5.  The  remaining  point  of  which  I  would  speak  is,  the 
disadvantages  under  w4iich  Paul  labored.  This  greatest 
of  all  preachers  appears  to  have  had  some  serious  phys- 
ical disqualification.  Let  us  consider  the  evidence  of  this 
fact,  and  the  lesson  it  teaches. 

In  the  second  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  he  quotes  the 
disparaging  language  of  his  enemies :  "  For  his  letters 
(say  they)  are  weighty  and  powerful ;  but  his  bodily 
presence  is  weak,  and  his  speech  contemptible."  Making 
allowance  for  the  exaggerations  of  a  hostile  spirit,  it  is 
yet  plain,  even  from  this,  that  his  presence  was  not  com- 
manding, not  impressive,  but  rather  the  opposite. 

In  the  course  of  his  letter  to  the  Galatiaus,  he  seeks  to 
revive  their  personal  affection  for  himself  (which  the  Ju- 
daizing  teachers  had  endeavored  to  destroy),  by  remind- 
ing them  of  the  time  when  he  commenced  his  labors 
among  them.  Notice  his  language:  "Ye  know  how, 
through  infirmity  of  the  flesh,  I  preached  the  gospel  unto 
you  at  the  first.'^  The  word  through  must  be  here  taken 
to  mean  on  account  of — the  original  naturally  conveys 
this  sense,  and  will  hardly  bear  another — so  that  \ve 
understand  him  to  say  :  "  Ye  know  how,  on  account  of 
bodily  wfirmity,  I  preached  the  gospel  to  you  at  the 
first.''  When  he  first  arrived  in  Galatia,  he  did  not  pro- 
pose to  tarry  there ;  but  some  bodily  infirmity  making 
it  necessary  to  remain,  he  began  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
them.  He  adds :  "  And  my  temptation  (trial)  which  was 
in  my  flesh  3^e  despised  not,  nor  rejected  ;  but  received 
me  as  an  angel  of  God,  even  as  Christ  Jesus."  The  phys- 


152  THE    APOSTLE   PAUL   AS    A    PREACHER. 

ical  affection  before  mentioned,  he  here  calls  his  trial. 
He  had  evidently  feared  that  on  account  of  this  physical 
trial  they  would  contemptuously  reject  him  and  his  mes- 
sage ;  and  he  sets  in  strong  contrast  with  that  expecta- 
tion the  fact  that  they  had  received  him  with  the  great- 
est possible  respect  and  reverence. 

In  Second  Corinthians,  again,  he  speaks  of  certain  re- 
markable visions  with  which  he  had  been  favored,  above 
fourteen  years  before,  which  would  be  soon  after  his  con- 
version, adding  :  "  And  lest  I  should  be  exalted  above 
measure  through  the  abundance  of  the  revelations,  there 
was  given  me  a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  the  messenger  of  Satan 
to  buffet  me,  lest  I  should  be  exalted  above  measure." 
Nothing  could  be  better  calculated  to  humble  a  preacher, 
in  danger  of  being  elated  on  account  of  his  extraordinary 
privileges,  than  to  suffer  from  some  grievous  bodily  af- 
fection— some  marked  distortion,  it  may  be,  of  form  or 
feature — which  destroyed  all  impressiveness  of  appear- 
ance, which  made  him  continually  fear  lest  men  should 
"despise"  and  ^'reject"  him.  If  it  were  a  mental  de- 
fect, or  a  fault  of  character,  he  might  hope  in  some  meas- 
ure to  correct  it.  But  this  physical  disqualification, 
which  he  is  utterly  unable  to  remedy,  must  be  a  constant 
source  of  distress  and  humiliation.  The  apostle  deeply 
felt  it,  and  prayed  earnestly  for  the  removal  of  the  affec- 
tion. "  For  this  cause  I  besought  the  Lord  thrice  that 
it  might  dej)art  from  me.  And  he  said  unto  me.  My 
grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  ;  for  my  strength  is  made  per- 
fect in  weakness."  The  distressing  disadvantage  w^as 
not  removed.  He  was  taught  that  under  all  disadvan- 
tages Divine  grace  would   be  sufficient  to  uphold  and 


THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS   A    PREACHER.  153 

prosper  him,  for  the  strength  of  the  Lord  attains  its  per- 
fect manifestation  when  exercised  throuo:h  feeble  iustru- 
ments.  And  he  had  learned  by  this  time  to  endure  pa- 
tiently his  infirmity,  as  useful  for  his  own  humbling ; 
yea,  he  had  learned  to  exult  in  it,  as  conclusively  show- 
ing that  his  great  successes  were  due  to  no  human  influ- 
ence, but  to  Divine  power.  "  Most  gladly,  therefore,  will 
I  rather  glory  in  mine  infirmities,  that  the  power  of 
Christ  may  rest  upon  me.  Therefore  I  take  pleasure  in 
infirmities,  in  reproaches,  in  necessities,  in  persecutions, 
in  distresses,  for  Christ's  sake ;  for  when  lam  weak, 
then  am  I  strong." 

All  men  appreciate  the  great  advantage,  to  a  preach- 
er as  to  any  other  public  speaker,  of  a  commanding 
and  engaging  appearance.  We  feel  the  effect  of  it,  as 
soon  as  such  a  man  arises  to  address  us.  And  if  the 
speaker's  presence  be  not  merely  unattractive,  but  pain- 
fully and  ridiculously  peculiar,  it  inevitably  diminishes 
the  impressiveness  of  what  he  may  say.  Yet,  be  it  well 
observed,  and  forever  remembered,  that  the  most  useful 
preacher  that  ever  lived,  was  in  this  respect  signally 
lacking.  God's  strength  is  indeed  made  perfect  in  weak- 
ness. Let  the  man  who  truly  desires  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel, and  who  mourns  that  he  does  not  possess  those  phys- 
ical gifts  which  seem  almost  indispensable  to  eloquence, 
take  to  himself  with  humble  joy  that  blessed  assurance, 
"  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee." 

My  hearers,  one  word  more.  The  same  glorious  gos- 
pel which  Paul  preached  has  been  handed  down  to  us. 
However  feebly  presented,  it  is  "the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  to  every  one  that  beljeveth."     Paul  felt  him- 


154  THE   APOSTLE   PAUL   AS   A    PREACHER. 

self  but  a  vessel  of  clay,  bearing  the  precious  treasure  of 
the  gospel.  That  same  precious  treasure  is  offered  to 
you.  O,  reject  it  not — I  beseech  you — I  warn  you.  O, 
believe  on  that  Saviour,  whose  ministers  labor  awhile, 
and  one  after  another  pass  away,  but  w^ho  is  himself  "the 
same,  yesterday,  and  to-day,  and  forever." 


XI. 

THE  HOLY  SCEIPTURES. 

A7id  that  from  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  holy  Scriptures,  which  are 
able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.— 2  Tim.  3  :  15.* 

'WHATEVER  we  may  say,  it  is  to  be  admitted  that 
*  '  there  are  wide  and  potent  differences  among  the 
races  of  mankind.  The  Galatians  who  received  Paul  so 
joyfully,  with  such  impulsive  affection,  and  a  few  years 
afterward  had  turned  away  from  him,  were  the  same 
Gauls  whom  Caesar  described  not  long  before,  the  same 
as  the  Gallic  races  of  mankind  to-day,  impulsive  and 
changeable :  and  no  small  part  of  what  we  prize  most 
in  our  civilization  is  to  be  discerned  in  our  German  fore- 
fathers, as  Tacitus  describes  them  in  a  beautiful  little 
treatise  he  wrote  about  the  manners,  customs  and  char- 
acter of  the  Germans.  Many  other  elements  of  our  civ- 
ilization, the  things  that  contribute  most  to  make  our 
life  desirable,  come  to  us  from  the  great  classic 
nations  of  antiquity.  Grecian  philosophy,  Grecian  art, 
Grecian  poetry  and  eloquence,  have  made  their  mark  on 
all  that  we  delight  in  ;  Roman  law  and  the  Roman 
genius  for  government  have  much  to  do  with  what  is 

*The  author  has  quite  a  different  sermon  from  the  same  text,  en- 
titled, "  Three  Questions  as  to  the  Bible,"  published  in  tract  form  by 
the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  Philadelphia. 

155 


156  THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES. 

best  in  our  law  and  government.  And  yet,  when  you  have 
made  allowance  for  all  these,  ample  and  cordial  allow- 
ance for  race  characteristics,  and  for  the  effect  of  all  that 
is  Grecian  and  all  that  is  Koman,  who  can  deny  that  a 
large  part  of  \vhat  we  prize  most  and  enjoy  most  in  our 
life  of  to-day  has  not  been  explained  from  any  of  those 
sources — that  it  comes  from  the  Bible,  that  it  comes 
from  Christianity  ?  There  are  many  men  who  think 
they  are  now  so  refined  that  they  have  gotten  above 
Christianity,  and  yet  it  is  Christianity  that  gave  them 
the  said  refinement.  Now,  if  all  this  is  true,  it  ought 
never  to  be  out  of  place  nor  beyond  our  sympathies  to 
speak  of  the  Bible — the  Bible  that  has  done  so  much 
for  all  that  we  like  best  in  our  homes,  our  social  life, 
our  public  institutions — the  Bible  that  has  been  the  com- 
fort and  joy  of  many  of  those  we  have  loved  best  in 
other  days — the  Bible  that  is  the  brightest  hope  of  many 
of  us  for  time  and  for  eternity — the  Bible  that  gives  the 
only  w^ell-founded  hope  for  mortal,  and  yet  immortal 
man,  in  regard  to  the  great  future. 

"  Thou  hast  known  the  holy  Scriptures.'^  That  did 
not  mean  the  same  thing  for  Timothy,  exactly,  as  for 
us.  It  meant  our  Old  Testament ;  for  of  course  when 
Timothy  was  a  child  the  New  Testament  was  not  yet 
in  existence.  How  do  I  know  that  it  meant  our  Old 
Testament?  How  do  I  know  that  our  Old  Testament 
is  a  book  of  Divine  origin?  Is  there  any  way  to  prove 
that,  which  is  not  dependent  upon  scholarship,  which 
can  be  easily  stated?  apart,  I  mean,  from  its  internal 
evidence  of  its  own  inspiration  through  its  wisdom, 
power,  and    blessing.      I    know  it  in    this  way.     The 


THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES.  157 

term  "  Scripture  "  or  "  Scriptures  "  was  yi  our  Lord's 
time  a  technical  term,  just  as  it  is  among 
us.  When  a  man  among  the  Jews  spoke  of 
the  "  Scripture/^  when  Jesus  said,  "  The  Scripture 
cannot  be  broken,'^  everybody  understood  that  it  meant 
a  certain  well-known  and  well-defined  collection  of 
sacred  writings  known  to  all  his  hearers.  Jesus  and 
His  Apostles  have  testified  that  the  "  Scriptures  '^  are 
divine.  Now  do  I  know  what  writings  they  were  ? 
Yes  ;  I  know  from  outside  sources,  very  varied  and 
ample.  I  know  from  the  great  Jewish  historian  and 
scholar,  Josephus,  who  expressed  himself  very  distinctly 
as  to  the  sacred  books  of  the  Jews,  and  declares  that  no 
man  would  venture  to  add  to  the  number  or  to  take 
away  from  them.  I  know  from  the  Jewish  writings  of 
a  later  period,  embodying  their  traditions  of  the  New 
Testament  time  and  of  earlier  times,  the  Talmud,  in 
which  the  collection  of  sacred  writings  described  is 
precisely  our  Hebrew  Old  Testament,  neither  more  nor 
less.  I  know  from  Christian  writers  of  the  second 
century  and  of  the  third  century,  who  made  it  a  specialty 
in  Palestine  itself  to  ascertain  what  were  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  Christ,  and  who  de- 
finitely stated  the  result  to  be  our  Old  Testament.  Now 
I  am  not  pinning  my  faith  to  the  Jews  and  saying  that 
these  books  were  divine  because  the  Jews  thought  so. 
I  am  trying  to  ascertain  what  books  they  were  which 
Jesus  and  the  Apostles  declared  to  be  divine,  and  I  learn 
beyond  a  doubt  that  the  Jews  who  heard  them  under- 
stood, without  fail  and  without  exception,  that  it  meant  pre- 
ciselv  what  we  call  the  Old  Testament.     That  is  a  clear 


158  THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES. 

statement  of  tbe  matter,  which  cannot  be  gainsaid  and 
which  leaves  no  occasion  for  doubt.  A  man  may  say, 
^'  Well,  I  find  a  good  many  things  in  the  Old  Testament 
that  I  don't  see  any  use  in,  that  I  don't  see  the  good  of, 
some  things  that  I  object  to."  But  hold  !  The  founder 
of  Christianity  and  his  inspired  Apostles  have  spoken 
about  them,  and  whether  you  understand  everything  in 
the  Old  Testament  or  not,  they  have  declared  that  the 
Scripture  cannot  be  broken  ;  that  all  Scripture  is  given 
by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable ;  that  the  holy 
Scriptures  (the  Old  Testament)  are  "  able  to  make  wise 
unto  salvation  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  wisdom  in  this  world.  It  is 
wonderful  that  mankind,  considering  how  foolish  they 
are,  should  be  so  wise ;  and  oh  !  it  is  wonderful  that 
mankind,  considering  how  wise  they  are,  should  be  so 
foolish.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  wisdom  in  the  world  ; 
wisdom  that  commands  the  admiration  of  all  who  are 
fitted  to  appreciate  it.  Men  are  so  wise  about  their 
business  affairs !  Just  look  at  the  great  busineps 
schemes,  the  grand  business  combinations  !  How  easily 
men  discern  the  new  openings  for  business  which  new 
inventions  and  discoveries  offer  to  them  !  How  clearly 
we  ordinary  people  see,  after  a  while,  what  some  extra- 
ordinary man  saw  years  before,  and  seized  upon  it  and 
made  himself  one  of  the  great  business  men  of  the  time 
by  his  wisdom  !  I  was  reading,  only  yesterday,  the  life 
of  Sir  Moses  Montefiore,  embracing  something  of  the 
life  of  the  first  great  English  Rothschild,  and  was  re- 
minded how  wise  those  men  were  in  understanding 
their  times  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  during  the 


THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES.  159 

Napoleonic  wars,  in  seeing  deeper  into  the  probabilities 
than  even  great  statesmen  saw.    There  is  a  great  deal  of 
wisdom  in  the  world  ;  and  this  makes  it  all  the  sadder 
to  think  how  few,  comparatively,  seem  to  he  wise  unto 
salvation.     Nay,   these  wonderful  human  endowments 
and     energies    of  ours    seem     often    to    be    directed 
toward    wisdom    unto   sin.     Men    take   their  splendid 
powers  and  prostitute  them  in  the  service  of  wickedness. 
The  longing  to  know  evil  is  so  intense  in  human  na- 
ture !     AVhat  is  that  early  story  in  the  dim  light  of  the 
first  history  of  mankind  ?     We   do   not   know   much 
about  it.     We  can  ask  a  thousand  questions  about  it 
that  no  one  can  answer.     But  this  much  we  see  clearly  : 
A  fair  woman  in  a  beautiful  garden,  gazing  upon  a  tree 
and  its  fruit,  and  the  thought  suggested  that  it  is  a  tree 
to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise ;  eat  of  that,  and  they 
will  be  independent  of  God,  they  will  be  themselves  as 
God,  knowing  good  and  evil  for  themselves — good  and 
evil — and  not  having  to  ask   Him   for  guidance.     She 
takes  and  eats,  and  gives  to  her  husband,  and  he  eats — 
in  flat,  bold  defiance  of  the  great  Father's  prohibition. 
Then  their  eyes  were  opened — opened  unto  sin,  opened 
unto  shame.    And  ever  since  —why,  it  is  just  wonderful  to 
watch  your  own  children  and  see  how  early  they  show  a 
keen  relish  for  knowing  about  wrong  things  ;  how  they 
will  get  off  with  some  villainous  servant  or  off  with 
some  bad  schoolmate,  and  get  themselves  told  a  lot  of 
things  that  it  would  be  so  much  better  for  them  never 
to  hear  of.     They  do  so  want  to  know  the  bad  things ! 
The  growing  boys  are  so  curious  about  places  that  are 
characteristically  places  of  evil.    Wise  unto  sin  !    There 


160  THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES. 

are  a  great  many  things  it  is  better  never  to  know. 
There  are  things  about  which  ignorance  is  bliss  ;  yea, 
and  ignorance  is  wisdom.  There  are  things  of  which 
those  who  know  least  are  the  wisest  people,  and  those 
who  know  most  are  the  most  foolish  people.  It  is  a 
matter  to  be  thankful  for,  and  in  a  good  sense  proud  of, 
if  a  man  can  say,  that  as  to  the  popular  forms  of  out- 
breaking vice  he  never  knew  anything  about  them  ; 
that  he  never  entered  a  place  of  debauchery ;  that  he 
does  not  know  the  names  of  the  instruments  of  gaming ; 
that  he  does  not  know  the  taste  of  intoxicating  liquors. 
Happy  the  man  who  can  humbly  declare  to  a  friend 
such  blessed  ignorance,  such  wise  ignorance  as  that. 

While  men  are  so  busy  in  being  wise  unto  sin,  how 
desirable,  surely,  that  we  should  be  wise  unto  salvation ! 
My  friends,  let  us  wake  up  a  little.  We  sleep,  we 
dream  along  through  life.  We  say,  ^'  O  yes,  yes,  I  be- 
lieve that  there  is  another  life,  a  future."  You  believe 
it  is  eternal?  '^  Yes,  I  believe  it  is  an  eternal  life.'^ 
And  you  believe  in  God?  "Yes,  I  believe  in  God." 
And  you  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  ?  "  Well,  yes  ;  I  sup- 
pose that  is  all  so."  And  yet,  living  in  this  brief,  fleeting, 
uncertain  life,  in  this  strange  world,  and  admitting  all 
these  things  to  be  true,  and  not  wise  unto  salvation,  and 
not  i^raying  to  be  wise  unto  salvation ! 

"  The  holy  Scriptures,  which  are  able  to  make  thee 
wise  unto  salvation  throuirh  faith  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus."  That  is  the  way  in  which  they  do  it — through 
faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus :  for  the  holy  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  Testament  are  never  half  understood  except 
as  they  are  seen  in  the  light  of  Christ  Jesus.     They  all 


THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES.  161 

pointed  forward  to  Christ  Jesus ;  they  all  found  their 
fulfillment,  the  key  of  their  interpretation,  in  Christ 
Jesus.  The  Old  Testament  history  is  not  merely  a  his- 
tory of  some  wandering  patriarchs  and  of  a  strange, 
wayward  people  of  wonderful  powers  and  wonderful 
propensities  to  evil.  It  is  not  merely  a  history  of  Israel. 
The  Old  Testament  is  a  history  of  redemption,  of  God's 
mightiness  and  mercies,  and  of  a  chosen  nation,  all 
along  toward  the  promised,  long-looked-for  time  when 
God's  Son  should  come  to  be  the  Saviour  of  mankind. 
We  cannot  understand  the  Old  Testament,  except  we 
read  it  in  its  bearing  upon  Christ,  as  fulfilled  in  him. 
I  remember  once  a  neighboring  professor  sent  us  invi- 
tations to  his  house  for  a  summer  evening,  saying  that 
he  had  a  century  plant  which  seemed  about  to  bloom, 
and  asking  us  to  come  and  watch  with  them  till  it  blos- 
somed. It  was  a  delightful  occasion,  you  may  fancy. 
AVith  music  and  conversation  we  passed  on  through  the 
pleasant  summer  evening  hours,  on  till  past  midnight. 
Then  we  gathered  around  and  gazed  upon  the  plain, 
wonderful  thing  that  had  lived  longer  than  any  of  us 
had  lived,  and  now,  for  the  first  time,  was  about  to 
blossom  for  the  admiration  of  beholders.  And  oh !  I 
think  sometimes  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  blossoming 
Century  Plant,  the  beauteous  Millennium  Flower.  All 
the  long  story  of  Israel  meant  him  ;  and  if  you  do  find 
many  things  in  the  Old  Testament  that  you  do  not  see 
the  meaning  of,  remember  that  they  all  pointed  forward 
toward  him. 

Then,  besides,  the  Scriptures  not  only  have  to  be  un- 
derstood through  him,  but  they  make  us  wise  unto  sal- 
11 


1G2  THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES. 

vation  only  through  faith  in  him ;  because  if  we  do  not 
believe  what  the  Scriptures  say  concerning  him,  how 
can  they  have  their  full  power  over  us  ?  They  have  a 
certain  power.  Just  as  the  moon,  when  it  is  eclipsed,  yet 
has  some  light  shining  upon  it,  reflected  from  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  earth,  so  the  people,  who  do  not  themselves 
believe  in  the  Scriptures,  and  do  not  believe  in  Christ 
Jesus  with  living  faith,  get  much  benefit  reflected  from 
the  Christian  people  around  them,  and  the  Christian 
homes  in  which  they  grew  up,  and  the  Christian  atmos- 
phere they  breathe  ;  but  they  never  get  the  full  benefit 
which  the  Bible  is  able  to  give,  except  through  personal 
faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  Ah  !  that  dark  lie  in  the  garden 
would  never  have  brought  its  baneful  results  for  our 
race  of  mortals,  if  our  first  mother  had  not  believed  it. 
A  lie  rejected  is  powerless ;  a  lie  believed  is  ruin.  And 
so  truth  rejected  cannot  have  its  full  effect  upon  us. 
How  can  we  get  the  benefit  of  Scripture  if  we  do  not 
believe  in  Him  who  is  the  centre  and  the  heart  and  the 
essence  and  the  life  of  Scripture,  even  Christ  Jesus  ? 

There  is  another  line  of  thouo^ht  here :  "  And  that 
from  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  holy  Scriptures,  which 
are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus/'  Happy  Timothy !  His 
mother  and  his  grandmother  had  shown  an  unfeigned 
faith,  to  which  the  Apostle  himself  testified.  From  a 
child  they  had  trained  him  to  know  the  holy  Scriptures ; 
and  in  his  early  youth  he  had  met  the  blessed  Apostle 
and  learned  from  him  the  faith  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  thus  had  become  wise  unto  salvation.  Happy 
Timothy  !  Happy,  every  growing  child  that  has  devout 


THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES.  163 

people  around  to  point  it  toward  the  knowledge  of  God's 
Word.  My  friends,  we  who  are  growing  old,  what  do 
we  live  for  in  this  world,  but  for  the  young  who  are 
growing  up  around  us?  What  would  be  the  use  of  life 
to  us,  if  it  were  not  in  the  hope  of  making  the  life  of 
those  whom  God  hath  given  us,  and  those  who  spring 
up  under  our  view,  brighter  and  better  and  purer  and 
worthier  ?  We  ought  not  to  think  it  a  small  matter  to 
train  the  growing  children — in  our  homes,  in  the  Sun- 
day-school, as  we  meet  them  in  soci(?ty,  wherever  we  can 
reach  them  by  our  influence — to  know  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures. You  are  not  doing  enough  if  you  merely  tell 
your  children  sometimes,  "  You  ought  to  read  the  Bible,'' 
and  perhaps  scold  a  little  because  the  child  does  not  read 
the  Bible  ;  that  is  not  half  enough.  Ah  !  we  ought  to 
set  the  child  an  example  of  reading  the  Bible,  as  some 
of  us  neglect  to  do.  We  ought  to  make  the  children  see, 
by  our  own  daily  assiduity,  our  own  living  interest,  that 
we  believe  in  reading  the  Bible  and  get  good  out  of  it. 
We  ought  to  talh  about  what  is  in  the  Bible ;  we  ought 
to  point  out  to  the  child  this  or  the  other  portion  that 
is  suited  to  his  age  and  character  and  wants.  We  ought 
to  talk  to  the  child  about  what  he  is  reading,  to  show 
him  the  application  of  this  or  that  text  to  his  daily  life. 
Out  of  the  abundance  of  a  heart  that  is  full  of  the  know- 
ledge of  God's  Word,  our  mouth  ought  to  speak  often  in 
the  conversation  of  the  family,  so  as  to  make  the  child 
feel  that  the  Bible  has  gone  into  our  soul,  and  that  it 
shows  itself  in  the  glance  of  our  eye  and  in  the  tone  of 
our  voice  and  in  the  tenor  of  our  life.  Are  there  many 
of  us  that  do  that  ?     Dear  children  !    there  come  times 


164  THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES. 

when  our  hearts  grow  soft  and  tender  toward  them,  and 
we  feel  that  we  could  die  for  them  if  that  would  do  them 
any  good  ;  and  yet  here  is  something  by  which  we  could 
promote  their  highest,  noblest,  eternal  welfare,  and — we 
do  not  have  the  time !  Happy  Timothy,  who,  ere  he 
became  grown,  learned  the  faith  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Happy  every  one  who  from  a  child  has  known 
the  holy  Scriptures,  has  learned  early — and  God  be 
thanked  !  the  earlier  the  better — to  give  the  young  heart 
to  Christ  Jesus  and  dedicate  the  young  life  to  His  blessed 
service,  and  now  is  going  on,  trying  to  persuade  others 
to  love  and  serve  Him  too. 

But  ah  !  there  are  many  who  from  a  child  have 
known  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  now  are  passing  on  in- 
to mature  life,  wise  about  a  great  many  earthly  things ; 
and  some  of  them  are  gray-headed  and  wrinkled,  and 
some  of  them  tottering  towards  the  end — not  yet,  oh,  not 
yet  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  !  There  are  many  peculiar  circumstances  about 
growing  old  :  the  parents  gone,  long  ago ;  maybe  the 
brothers  and  sisters  all  gone,  and  one  stands  alone,  like 
some  pine  smitten  of  the  lightning  in  the  field — alone  of 
what  was  once  the  family  circle;  and  the  friends  of 
youth  most  of  them  gone,  alas  !  and  some  of  them  es- 
tranged, and  others  so  far  away ;  new  things  growing  up, 
like  the  bushes  growing  around  an  old  pine  tree,  that 
are  not  akin  to  it ;  new  features,  new  interests,  new  pur- 
suits ;  and  he  who  grows  old  finds  it  hard  to  interest 
himself  in  these  things  and  feel  the  spring  and  buoy- 
ancy and  the  sweetness  of  life  as  he  felt  it  in  other  days. 
Alas  for  a  man  who  from  a  child  has  known  the  holy 


THE   HOLY   SCRIPTURES.  165 

Scriptures,  and  now  is  growing  old,  and  has  not  become 
wise  unto  salvation  !  Alas  for  a  man  who  can  bear,  like 
Atlas,  the  burdens  of  the  world's  affairs  in  the  maturity 
of  his  strength  and  his  wisdom,  and  who  is  neglecting 
to  be  wise  unto  salvation  !  Ah  !  if  I  speak  to  any  one 
such  person  in  middle  life,  or  growing  old,  might  I 
persuade  him  to  say  this  day,  out  of  an  honest  and 
humble  heart,  "  O  Jesus,  of  whom  my  mother  taught  me 
in  my  childhood,  take  me  now  to  be  Thine  ! " 

And  alas !  that  there  are  so  many,  even  in  our  own 
country,  which  delights  to  call  itself  Christian,  who 
from  childhood  have  not  known  the  holy  Scriptures ; 
that  in  this,  which  is  in  some  respects  the  brightest  land 
of  earth,  and  in  some  respects  the  foremost  nation  of  earth, 
there  are  some  children  who  do  not  know  the  looks  of 
the  outside  of  a  Bible  !  They  are  growing  up  in  homes 
where  no  Bible  was  ever  seen  ;  and  there  are  plenty  of 
such  homes.  Ought  it  not  to  be  a  pleasure  to  us  to  try 
to  spread  the  Bible  among  our  fellow-men  ?  One  will 
say,  many  copies  are  destroyed  and  many  copies  are 
slighted.  Certainly:  not  every  venture  in  business 
pays.  There  has  to  be  a  head  in  the  books  of  every 
establishment  for  loss  as  well  as  for  profits.  There  are 
many  blossoms  on  the  tree  that  bring  no  fruit,  and  many 
seeds  fall  into  the  ground  that  spring  not  up  ;  but  that 
does  not  prevent  us  from  planting  nor  hinder  us  from 
gathering.  Grant  that  some  copies  will  perish,  and  many 
copies  will  be  slighted  :  yet  scatter  the  Bible,  and  many 
will  read  it,  and  not  a  few,  by  the  blessing  of  God's 
grace,  will  thereby  become  wise  unto  salvation.  It  is 
hard  sometimes  to  tell  what  is  the  greatest  privilege  of 


J  66  THE   HOLY  SCRIPTURES. 

earthly  life,  but  it  does  seem  that  just  the  greatest  priv- 
ilege of  earthly  life  is  to  give  to  some  fellow-creature  the 
blessed  Word  of  God,  and  then  to  try,  by  loving  speech 
and  living  example,  to  bring  home  to  the  heart  and  con- 
science of  those  whom  we  can  reach,  the  truths  it  con- 
tains. If  we  do  love  the  Bible  ourselves  (and  many 
of  us  do),  then  ought  not  such  to  delight  in  scattering 
the  Bible  among  others  ?  If  some  of  us  know  too  well 
that  we  are  but  poor  sticks  of  Christians  at  best,  and  that 
we  do  not  love  the  Bible  as  we  ought,  and  do  not  live 
by  it  as  we  ought,  yet  shall  we  not  at  least  feel,  ^'  Now 
here  is  something  that  I  can  do;  here  is  something  that 
I  will  do.  I  do  not  treat  the  Bible  rightly  myself,  but 
I  will  gladly  give  the  Bible  to  every  one,  high  and  low, 
rich  and  poor,  in  all  the  land,  in  all  the  world,  whom 
I  can  help."  O  that  it  may  be  true  of  your  children 
and  mine,  of  your  acquaintance  and  mine,  that  we  have 
done  them  some  good  in  bringing  them  to  a  knowledge 
of  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  that  they  have  all  been 
brought,  by  God's  grace,  to  the  blessedness  of  being 
wise  unto  salvation. 


XIL 

ON  READING  THE  BIBLE  BY  BOOKS.* 

THE  main  support  of  all  individual  Christian  life,  the 
main-spring  of  all  high  Christian  work,  must  be  the 
truth  of  God.  Truth  is  the  life-blood  of  piety.  Truth 
is  always  more  potent  and  more  precious  when  we  draw 
it  ourselves  out  of  the  Bible.  I  rode  out  yesterday 
afternoon  with  a  kind  friend  among  the  glories  of  the 
famous  avenue  of  Cleveland,  and  then  away  into  the 
beautiful  country  region  which  they  hope  is  to  be  Cleve- 
land Park  some  day,  until  w^e  passed  presently  a  little 
fountain  where  the  water,  coming  fresh  and  sweet  and 
bright,  was  bursting  from  the  hillside.  The  water  we 
drink  in  the  houses  here  from  the  lake  is  delightful,  but 
there  it  was  a  fountain.  There  is  nothing  like  drinking 
water  out  of  a  fountain.  And  I  remembered  what  my 
Lord  Bacon  has  said  :  ''  Truth  from  any  other  source  is 
like  water  from  a  cistern ;  but  truth  drawn  out  of  the 
Bible  is  like  drinking  water  from  a  fountain,  immedi- 
ately where  it  springeth."  Ah,  this  Christian  work  we 
have  to-day  in  the  world  will  be  wise  and  strong  and 
mighty  just  in  proportion,  other  things  being  equal,  as 

*  Address  before  the  International  Convention  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  May  25,  1881.  This  maybe 
had  (with  some  additional  analyses  of  books)  in  tract  form  from  the 
International  Committee,  Twenty-third  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue, 
New  York  City. 

167 


168  ON    READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

it  is  directed  and  controlled  and  inspired  by  what  we 
draw  ourselves  out  of  the  AVord  of  God  !  I  have  come 
to  speak  to  people  who  want  to  study  the  BibJe,  who  do 
study  the  Bible,  who  love  the  Bible,  and  would  fain 
love  it  more  and  know  it  better.  I  am  not  to  speak  to 
Biblical  scholars,  though  such  are  present,  no  doubt ;  I 
am  not  to  speak  to  persons  of  great  leisure,  who  can 
spend  hours  every  day  over  their  Bible ;  but  to  busy 
workers,  most  of  them  busy  with  the  ordinary  pursuits 
of  human  life,  in  their  homes  or  places  of  business,  and 
all  of  them  busy,  I  have  no  doubt,  in  the  varied  work 
of  Christian  people  in  the  world,  and  they  wish  to  know 
how  busy  people,  often  interrupted  in  their  daily  read- 
ing of  the  Bible,  and  often  limited  for  time,  can  make 
the  most  of  this  daily  reading.  Therefore,  they  will  be 
willing,  perhaps,  to  listen. 

I  am  to  undertake,  by  request,  to  set  forth  one  of  the 
many  ways  of  reading  the  Bible,  which  I  think  may 
have  special  advantages,  which  is  often  too  much 
neglected,  and  which  may  contribute  to  give  us  in- 
tellectual interest  in  the  Bible,  and  to  make  its  study 
spiritually  profitable.  I  want  your  kind  aid  in  doing 
this,  my  friends.  I  am  going  to  speak  of  an  intensely 
practical  matter  in  as  thoroughly  practical  a  manner  as  I 
know  how,  and  when  I  am  done,  I  shall  be  exceedingly 
glad  if  one  and  another  of  you  will  ask  me  questions 
about  the  subject,  or  about  anything  that  has  been  said. 

The  Bible  is  one  book  ;  but  the  Bible  is  many  books. 
It  is  an  interesting  subject  of  reflection  to  look  back 
upon  the  process  by  which  men  ceased  calling  it  books 
and  began  to  think  of  it  as  a  book.     You  know  that 


ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS.  169 

the  Greek  name  for  Bible,  Ta  Ilagia  Blhlia,  means  the 
sacred  books ;  and  when  they  borrowed  tlie  Greek  term 
into  the  Latin  Bihlia  Sacra,  it  was  still  plural — the 
Sacred  Books.  How  has  that  Biblia  come  to  be  a  singu- 
lar word  in  our  language  ?  When  the  various  writings 
of  inspired  men  had  all  been  completed  and  began  to 
be  thought  of  as  one  collection,  complete  in  itself,  and  when 
men  began  to  know  that  singular  and  beautiful  harmony 
which  pervades  so  wonderfully  all  this  great  collection 
of  books,  written  by  so  many  men,  through  so  many 
long  centuries,  perceiving  that  it  was  not  only  a  com- 
plete collection  of  books,  but  that  they  were  all  in  per- 
fect harmony  with  each  other,  then  the  idea  grew  upon 
the  Christian  mind  that  this  was  really  one  book.  A 
very  noble  thought  that  is,  to  be  cherished  and  made 
plain  to  each  successive  generation— the  internal  har- 
mony of  all  these  various  writings  of  inspired  men. 

But  then  we  must  not  forget  that,  after  all,  it  is  many 
books.  They  were  written  separately  ;  they  were  most 
of  them  published  separately  ;  they  were  originally  read 
separately  from  each  other  ;  they  had  a  separate  charac- 
ter, a  substantially  separate  meaning  and  value,  a  prac- 
tical influence  over  those  who  read  them,  and  they  ought 
to  be  read  as  separate  books. 

Then  each  one  of  them  must  be  read  as  a  whole  if  we 
would  understand  them  well.  You  cannot  understand 
any  book  if  you  read  it  only  by  fragments — I  mean  the 
first  time  you  read  it.  A  cultivated  gentleman  of  this 
city  remarked  at  dinner  to-day  that  he  was  reading  for 
the  third  time  that  beautiful  book  of  piety,  "  Tlie 
Memorials  of  a  Quiet  Life,'' — reading  it  for  the  third 


170  ON   READING  THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

time,  fifteen  minutes  of  every  day,  he  said.  That  is  very 
well  when  he  is  reading  it  for  the  third  time ;  but  if  he 
had  read  it  fifteen  minutes  of  every  day  the  first  time, 
he  could  not  have  entered  so  fully  into  the  meaning  of 
the  book.  The  celebrated  John  Locke  has  a  saying  on 
this  subject  in  the  preface  to  his  commentary  on  the 
Epistles  of  Paul.  He  said  he  had  found  from  his  ex- 
perience that  in  order  to  understand  one  of  the  Epistles 
of  Paul,  it  will  not  do  to  take  it  in  fragments.  Why, 
suppose  (the  philosopher  goes  on)  that  a  man  has  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  an  absent  friend,  whom  he  loves 
very  much — a  letter  full  of  valuable  instruction  to  him, 
and  that  he  reads  a  page  to-day  and  then  lays  it  down ; 
the  next  day  he  takes  another  page  and  begins  at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  page,  and  does  not  notice  much 
what  was  at  the  end  of  the  first  page  ;  the  third  day  he 
begins  at  the  top  of  the  third  page  and  reads  that.  How 
much  will  he  know  about  the  letter  when  he  is  done.  Ho 
tells  you,  perhaps,  ^'  I  have  been  reading  a  letter  from  So- 
and-so — a  letter  full  of  valuable  instruction,''  and  you  ask 
him  what  it  is  about ;  he  does  not  quite  know  what  it  is 
about,  and  no  wonder,  with  such  a  process  of  reading. 
You  must  take  the  Epistles,  says  Locke,  as  you  would 
take  any  other  letter.  You  must  take  them  each  as  a 
whole,  and  sit  down  and  read  each  from  beginning  to 
end,  and  see  what  it  is  about.  And  then,  if  it  is  very 
valuable,  you  will  take  it  afterwards  in  parts,  not  neces- 
sarily in  pages,  but  in  parts  according  to  the  subject  of 
which  it  treats,  and  you  will  see  what  it  says  about  this 
subject,  and  what  it  says  about  that  subject,  etc.  That 
seems  to  be  very  plain  common  sense,  and  yet  what  a 


ON   READING  THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS.  171 

pity  that  the  idea  has  not  struck  more  widely  into  the 
minds  of  the  Christian  world  ! 

Will  you  pardon  a  little  personal  reminiscence?  I 
think  that  those  who  grow  old  ought  to  take  occasion  to 
bear  their  humble  personal  testimony  to  the  way  in 
which  good  is  sometimes  done  for  and  through  young 
men.  It  is  a  long  time  ago  now — I  am  almost  afraid 
to  tell  you  how  long  ago — that  I  was  a  college  student 
at  the  University  of  Virginia.  One  day,  coming  home 
from  a  lecture,  Dr.  McGuffey,  Professor  of  Moral  Phil- 
osophy, speaking  to  a  student  who  was  contemplating 
the  ministry,  said,  ^'  I  want  you  to  get  Home's  Intro- 
duction, and  hunt  up  a  paragraph  quoted  there  from 
John  Locke  about  the  importance  of  reading  the  Bible, 
a  book  at  a  time,  taking  each  book  as  a  whole.  Now, 
be  sure  to  get  it,  and  read  it.''  The  young  man  got  it, 
and  read  it,  and  the  thought  went  into  his  heart  of 
reading  the  Bible  in  that  way,  and  took  hold  upon  him ; 
and  in  order  to  show  the  impression  that  w^as  made,  he 
must  mention  as  result  that  a  few  years  later,  by  a  series 
of  Sunday  night  sermons  on  the  life  and  writings  of 
the  Apostle  Paul,  before  Conybeare  and  Howson  were 
heard  of  in  the  world,  treating  each  epistle  as  a  whole, 
in  the  place  Avhere  it  occurred  in  the  history,  he  crowded 
the  aisles  and  crowded  the  doors  of  the  church  and 
built  a  new  church ;  and  a  few  years  later  still,  another 
result  was  that  the  young  man  was  drawn  very  reluc- 
tantly from  the  pastoral  work  he  loved,  and  will  always 
love  better  than  anything  else  in  this  world,  to  be  a 
teacher  of  others  in  this  same  work ;  and  the  man  can- 
not tell  to-day,  as  he  looks  back,  how  much  of  the  direc- 


172  ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

tion  his  life  has  taken  is  due  to  the  recommendation  the 
professor  gave  to  his  student,  as  they  walked  home  from 
the  lecture. 

Oh,  ye  people  that  have  to  do  with  the  world's  young 
men,  you  never  know  what  some  little  word  you  speak 
is  going  to  do  in  shaping  the  whole  character  and  con- 
trolling the  whole  life  of  the  man  who  walks  by  your 
side  ! 

But  I  wish  not  to  argue  this  matter,  but  to  offer  some 
practical  illustrations  of  it.  Let  us  just  take  up  together, 
now,  some  books  of  the  Bible,  and  by  your  very  kind 
permission,  I  will  address  myself  to  the  average  reader, 
the  person  of  average  intelligence. 

Take  the  First  Book  of  Samuel.  You  want  to  read 
that  book  through  at  a  sitting.  How  long  will  it  take 
you  ?  Forty-five  or  fifty  minutes.  Read  it  as  you 
woukl  read  a  Sunday-school  book  that  one  of  your  chil- 
dren  brought  home  from  Sunclay-sc'nool,  right  straight 
through  before  you  rise.  Say  to  yourself,  "  What  is 
this  book  about?"  You  find  it  is  about  Samuel,  and 
presently  it  passes  on  to  tell  about  Saul.  Samuel  con- 
tinues to  be  his  contemporary.  After  awhile  young 
David  comes  into  the  history,  and  it  goes  on  so  till 
Samuel  passes  away  and  you  reach  the  death  of  Saul 
with  the  end  of  the  book.  So  that  book  has  treated 
about  Samuel,  Saul  and  David,  and  you  have  got 
some  idea  of  the  general  history  of  each  of  these  persons, 
up  to  the  death  of  Saul,  and  the  time  when  you  know 
that  David  succeeded  him.  Then  you  go  to  reading  it 
again,  the  next  day  we  will  suppose,  for  you  are  a  busy 
person.     You  take  the  book  the  next  day,  begin  at  the 


ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY    BOOKS.  173 

beginning  and  say,  "  Well  now,  the  first  part  of  this 
book  is  about  Samuel.  Let  me  look  over  it  here,  and  see 
into  what  portions  of  Samuel's  life  it  divides  itself.''  You 
see  pretty  soon  that  you  have  first  an  account  of  Samuel's 
birth  and  childhood  ;  secondly,  you  have  an  account  of 
Samuel's  active  life  as  ruler  of  Israel ;  and  then,  thirdly, 
you  have  an  account  of  Samuel's  old  age,  when  he  had 
anointed  Saul  as  King  of  Israel,  and  lived  on  as  Saul's 
prophet,  and  finally  came  in  contact  with  the  youth  of  Da- 
vid. Those  are  the  three  periods  of  Samuel's  history 
presented — his  youth,  his  active  life  as  ruler,  and  his 
old  age  as  a  prophet.  You  take  up  the  account  of 
his  youth,  and  you  purpose  to  read  as  much  as  you 
can  of  that  for  this  first  reading.  Now  the  best  way 
would  be  to  read  the  book  three  times,  if  you  are 
patient  enough.  I  know  this  is  a  terribly  impatient 
age,  and  I  am  afraid  you  will  not  do  that.  I  am 
afraid  you  will  wish  to  make  only  two  readings  of  the 
book,  and  we  will  suppose  that  you  adopt  that  course, 
although  the  other  is  better.  While  you  are  reading 
this  life  of  Samuel,  then,  in  its  several  portions, 
you  will  be  studying  Samuel's  character  as  a  prophet, 
a  ruler  and  a  good  man.  You  will  be  paying  some 
attention  to  Samuel's  mission  and  office  in  the  unfold- 
ing of  the  history  of  the  people  of  Israel ;  for  he  oc- 
cupies a  very  unique  and  interesting  position.  You 
will  at  the  same  time  be  attending,  paragraph  by  para- 
graph, without  bothering  yourself  much  about  chapters, 
to  the  practical  lessons  which  are  presented  to  you. 
"  What  is  there  here  for  me  to  imitate  ?  What  is  there 
here  for  me  to  learn  ?     What  is  there  in  this  trait  of 


174  ON   READING  THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

Samuel's  character,  what  in  this  experience  of  SamuePs 
life,  that  I  ought  especially  to  lay  to  heart  ?  '^  You  are 
now  getting  the  lessons  out  of  one  portion  of  the  life, 
but  with  a  reference  to  the  other  portion,  taking  it  all 
as  a  whole.  When  you  have  completed  the  life  of 
Samuel  in  that  way,  you  pass  to  the  life  of  Saul.  You 
find  you  have  Saul's  early  years  and  Saul's  later  history 
as  a  division  into  two  parts.  Perhaps  you  mark  down 
on  a  bit  of  paper  with  a  pencil,  or  you  mark  down  on 
the  fly-leaf  of  your  Bible  itself,  the  divisions  in  this 
way.  Then  you  take  one  after  another  and  study  them. 
And  so  with  the  history  of  David  as  it  comes  in  ;  the 
struggles  of  David's  early  years ;  then  passing  as  you 
would  have  to  do  into  the  other  book.  Second  Samuel, 
the  history  of  David's  prosperity  in  middle  life,  and 
finally,  the  history  of  his  sore  adversities  in  his  later 
years.  You  will  thus  see  how  the  struggles  of  his  early 
years  prepared  him  for  his  day  of  prosperity,  and  how 
the  sins  of  his  day  of  prosperity  brought  on  his  adversity 
and  bitter  sorrow,  and  you  begin  to  take  David's  life  as 
a  whole,  and  see  the  connection  of  the  different  parts  of 
it — see  how  the  different  traits  of  character,  good  and 
evil,  come  out  one  after  another,  and  apply  each,  one 
after  the  other,  to  yourself.  Now,  I  suppose  that  this 
would  be  a  much  wiser  way  of  reading  the  First  Book  of 
Samuel,  than  just  to  read  one  or  two  chapters  to-day, 
and  the  next  day  begin  to  read  at  the  next  chapter,  and 
not  stop  to  see  what  there  is  in  the  former,  which  is  the 
way  (present  company,  of  course,  excepted  ! )  a  great 
many  people  read  their  Bible. 

But  let  us  turn  to  another  kind  of  book.     Take  one 


ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS.  I75 

of  the  Epistles  of  Paul.  You  will  find  that  the  books 
of  the  Bible  must  be  treated,  for  our  purpose,  in  a  great 
variety  of  ways,  according  to  their  peculiar  character. 
Take,  now,  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  We 
will  suppose  that  you  sit  down  and  read  it  straight 
through,  and  just  let  the  chapters  go.  What  are  the 
chapters,  and  who  was  the  chapter-maker?  Not  the 
inspired  writer,  as  everybody  knows.  Chapters  and 
verses  are  convenient  enough,  provided  we  use  them  as 
servants  and  do  not  allow  them  to  be  masters.  You  read 
it  straight  through  and  see  what  it  is  all  about,  and  you 
will  find  as  you  read  that  Epistle  that  it  treats  of  a  num- 
ber of  entirely  distinct  subjects.  They  have  nothing  to 
do  with  each  other  so  far  as  you  can  see.  You  take  your 
pencil  and  mark  them  down  as  you  go  along.  You  find 
there  are  four  chapters — for  the  chapter-maker  made 
but  one  grave  mistake  in  that  epistle,  w^hich  is  saying  a 
good  deal  to  his  credit,  more  than  can  be  said  in  other 
places — there  are  four  chapters  which  treat  of  the  divi- 
sions among  the  Corinthians,  and  the  fact  that  they  made 
these  divisions  with  reference  to  the  several  preachers. 
This  leads  Paul  to  speak  of  his  own  way  of  preaching. 
He  would  not  accommodate  himself  to  their  notions  of 
preaching, a  lesson  which  preachers  sometimes  have  to  re- 
member in  this  cranky  world.  Then  you  find  two  chapters 
in  which  he  speaks  of  special  evils  that  existed  among  them 
— evils  of  licentiousness,  and  evils  of  getting  their  per- 
sonal difficulties  settled  by  heathen  judges,  instead  of 
getting  them  settled  by  their  own  brethren  for  the  hon- 
or of  Christianity.  He  said,  in  the  first  place,  that  they 
ought  not  to  have  personal  difficulties  to  settle,  and,  in 


176  ON   READING   THE   BIBLE    BY   BOOKS. 

the  next  place,if  they  had  them,  they  ought  to  get  them  set- 
tled by  their  own  brethren  and  not  go  to  the  heathen  for  it. 
Then  you  find  the  seventh  chapter  treats  of  questions 
pertaining  to  marriage,  about  which  they  had  written  in- 
quiring of  the  apostle.  Then  you  go  on  and  you  will 
see  that  chapter  S,  9  and  10  talk  about  the  question  of 
eating  meat  which  had  been  offered  to  idols.  That  was 
a  grave  practical  question  among  them,  far  graver  than 
many  questions  that  we  dispute  about  now-a-days,  though 
to  us  it  is  dead  and  gone,  just  as  many  of  our  questions 
of  dispute  will  be  dead  and  gone  in  the  coming  centu- 
ries, and  men  will  wonder  what  in  the  world  made  those 
good  people  of  the  nineteenth  century  spend  so  much  time 
over  matters  that  will  seem  to  them  of  no  consequence 
whatever.  Those  three  chapters  treat  of  the  eating  of 
meat  offered  to  idols,  and  in  connection  with  that  the 
apostle  indicates  the  right  course  by  the  course  that  he 
pursued.  By  the  way,  let  me  mention  wdiat  his  argu- 
ment is  there.  It  is  familiar  to  most  of  you.  He 
says:  "Now  grant  that  this  meat  offered  to  idols  is  not 
different  from  any  other  meat.  The  idols  are  nothing,  and 
the  meat  is  just  the  same  as  it  was  before  it  was  laid  on 
the  altar.  Yet  if  your  weak  brother  cannot  get  over  the 
old  idolatrous  associations,  cannot  eat  it  without  a  re- 
vival of  the  old  reverence  for  the  idol,  and  without  its 
carrying  him  back  to  sin,  oh!  had  you  not  better  let  it 
alone,  even  if  it  is  innocent  for  you,  for  the  sake  of  your 
brother?"  And  I  think  sometimes.  Oh !  that  we  could 
content  ourselves  with  that  principle  in  regard  to  some 
practical  questions  of  to-day — that  argument  which  our 
fathers  employed  about  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks, 


ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS.  177" 

for  instance  ;  grant  that  it  may  be  innocent  for  you,  yet 
if  it  leads  your  brother  into  sin,  cannot  you  let  it  alone 
for  your  brother's  sake?  "Then  besides/'  the  apostle 
says,  "you  had  better  not  be  too  sure  that  this  thing  is 
innocent  for  you,  for,  before  you  know  it,  it  may  get  you 
into  trouble  too."  That  is  what  I  should  call  "A  calm 
view  of  Temperance."     But  this  by  the  way. 

Then,  to  proceed  with  the  Epistle,  you  find  that  chap- 
ters 11  to  14  treat  of  abuses  that  had  arisen  at  Corinth 
in  connection  with  their  public  worship.  A  variety  of 
abuses  are  mentioned.  Most  of  them  refer  to  the  dis- 
orderly conduct  of  their  public  worship,  when  ever  so 
many  of  them  would  want  to  speak  at  once,  and  they 
would  not  sit  down  as  gracefully  as  I  saw  gentlemen  do 
this  afternoon  in  the  social  meeting.  They  would  go  on 
talking  together,  and  were  not  willing  to  give  up  to  each 
other.  Some  of  them  were  proud  that  they  had  special 
gifts,  and  others  jealous  because  they  did  not  have  the 
like,  and  the  apostle  tells  them  that  all  this  must  be 
managed  in  decency  and  in  order,  and  that  Christian  love 
is  a  far  brighter,  sweeter,  nobler  thing  than  all  the  special 
gifts.  Just  here  please  let  the  chapters  alone,  for  what  you 
call  the  13th  chapter  of  I.  Corinthians  comes  right  in 
as  a  part  of  his  teaching  about  this  matter  of  the  dis- 
playing of  gifts,  the  ambition,  the  jealousy,  etc.,  and  you 
have  no  business  reading  the  first  portion  of  that  chap- 
ter without  noticing  how  it  links  on  with  what  precedes 
at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  chapter,  and  without  noticing 
how  the  end  of  it  is  connected  with  the  chapter  that  fol- 
lows. It  blazes  like  a  diamond  on  the  bosom  of  Scrip- 
ture, but  then  it  fastens  Scripture  together. 
12 


178  ON   HEADING  THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

The  fifteenth  chapter  of  I.  Corinthians  treats  of  the 
Resurrection,  and  the  sixteenth  contains  some  practical 
information,  etc. 

Now  you  have  half  a  dozen  entirely  distinct  subjects 
here.  You  have  observed  that,  and  you  have  marked 
it  down.  Then  you  take  the  subjects  up  one  at  a  time, 
and  study  them. 

You  will  find  some  other  epistles  in  which  you  cannot 
make  that  sort  of  absolute  division — this  topic,  and  then 
another  topic,  and  then  a  third  topic — but  the  writer  goes 
from  one  thing  to  another,  and  then  perhaps  comes  back  to 
the  first  subject.  Still,  in  a  good  many  of  those  cases,  you 
can  find  that  there  is  some  one  thought  that  is  the  key- 
note to  the  whole.  Take  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  for 
example.  It  is  quite  short ;  you  can  read  it  all  through 
in  less  than  half  an  hour.  You  ask  yourself.  What  is 
this  all  about?  What  is  the  main  idea  here?  for  you 
perceive  that  you  have  not  here  several  topics,  as  in  First 
Corinthians.  The  main  idea,  however,  is  Christian  joy. 
"Rejoice  in  the  Lord."  Wonderful  idea,  when  you 
remember  that  the  man  who  wrote  the  letter  to  the  Phil- 
ippians was  a  prisoner  chained,  his  life  subject  to  the 
caprice  of  the  most  terrific  tyrant  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  And  he  was  writing  to  a  church  poor  and  perse- 
cuted, which  had  sore  trials  awaiting  it  in  the  future. 
Yet,  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  Paul  writes  to  his  perse- 
cuted brethren,  and  the  key-note  of  wdiat  he  says  is, 
*^  Rejoice  in  the  Lord."  It  is  true  that,  in  the  middle 
of  the  Epistle,  he  apologizes  for  saying  it  so  often.  He 
says,  "To  write  the  same  things  to  you,  to  me  indeed  is 
not  grievous."  He  thought  it  might  be  grievous  to  them. 


ON    READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS.  179 

Before  he  gets  through  with  it  he  says  it  two  or  three 
times  more,  and  at  the  end  he  breaks  forth,  "Rejoice 
in  the  Lord  always,  and  again  I  say,  Rejoice  !''  Our  be- 
loved brother  Paul,  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God, 
was  yet  a  man  of  like  passions  with  ourselves,  and  as 
our  Saviour  himself  showed  humanness  none  the  less 
genuine  because  so  blended  with  the  Divine  nature,  in 
the  unity  of  his  one  person,  and  that  humanness  of  his 
sweetly  draws  us  toward  the  Divine ;  so  it  is  with  the 
humanness  of  the  sacred  writings  too,  and  we  may  feel 
the  touch  of  human  thinking,  and  the  glow  of  human 
feeling,  and  not  lose  at  all  our  reverence  for  the  divinity 
that  is  in  it  all. 

What  is  the  key-note  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians? 
It  is  the  unity  of  Christians.  The  dispute  of  many 
years  whether  the  Gentiles  should  become  Jews  is  not 
ended,  but  the  apostle  urges  that  the  Christians  are  one, 
Jew  or  Gentile.  That  was  the  widest  idea  that  ever 
existed  among  Christians  in  this  world.  None  of  our 
divisions  of  sect,  of  country  or  of  race  is  half  so  hard 
to  overcome  as  was  that  question  of  the  junction  of 
Jewish  Christian  and  Gentile  Christian,  and  the  apos- 
tle's great  thought  in  that  Epistle  is  that  all  are  one  in 
Christ  Jesus.  The  Epistle  was  intended  apparently  to 
be  sent  around  as  a  sort  of  circular  letter  to  many 
churches,  but  that  is  the  key-note.  I  do  not  say  that 
everything  in  Ephesians  is  about  unity  directly  and 
immediately,  and  if  you  get  hold  of  that  idea,  the  dan- 
ger is  that  you  will  carry  it  too  far,  and  will  find  it  in 
many  places  where  it  is  not.  At  least,  if  you  do  not, 
brethren  of  the  laity,  you  will  be  wiser  than  brethren  of 
the  ministry  often  are. 


180  ox   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

But  you  will  find  another  kind  of  books.  We  are 
supposing  you  are  examining  for  yourself.  Of  course, 
it  will  be  very  convenient  if  you  get  some  of  the  works 
which  give  analyses  of  the  books  of  the  Bible,  and  tell 
the  topics  they  treat  of.  That  is  helpful,  especially 
helpful  in  enabling  one  at  the  outset  to  see  how  to  take 
hold  of  the  matter.  But,  oh,  it  is  so  much  better  to 
have  a  little  rude  analysis  you  have  made  yourself; 
because  that  treats  of  the  thing  the  way  it  looks  to  your 
mind,  and  you  are  able  with  that,  though  it  may  not  be 
half  so  good  as  one  you  may  find  in  the  work  of 
another,  to  get  more  of  the  sacred  thought  which  this 
book  suggests  to  your  own  mind.  In  many  of  these 
sacred  books  you  cannot  find  one  key-note,  nor  a  divi- 
sion into  separate  topics,  but  you  will  find  some  subject 
tiiat  pervades  the  whole  and  gives  unity  to  it  in  some 
other  way. 

Let  us  take  the  great  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  Some 
people  think  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  tremendously 
hard  to  understand.  I  remember  a  time  when  I  found 
it  right  hard  to  helieve.  I  used  to  say  that  certain  por- 
tions of  it  were  the  most  difficult  writing  I  knew  of  in 
any  language — that  is  the  way  young  fellows  talk,  you 
know,  and  sometimes  old  fellow^s  have  not  gotten  over 
it.  I  used  to  say  that  certain  portions  of  it  were  sur- 
j)assiiigly  obscure.  And  why?  It  seems  to  me  now — 
and  I  mention  it  because  the  thought  may  be  worth  con- 
sidering— that  there  never  w^ould  have  been  any  great 
difficulty  in  seeing  what  the  apostle  meant  to  say,  if  I 
had  only  been  willing  to  let  him  alone  and  let  him  say 
what  he  wanted  to  say.     But  I  had  my  own  notions  as 


ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS.  181 

to  what  ought  to  be  said  on  that  subject,  and  what 
ought  not  to  be  said,  and  you  see  the  plainer  he  was  in 
saying  what  he  wanted  and  what  I  did  not  want,  the 
harder  I  found  it  to  make  him  mean  something  else. 

You  find  at  once,  as  you  read  this  Epistle  rapidly 
through,  that  it  breaks  into  two  parts.  Eleven  chapters 
contain  doctrinal  arguments  and  instruction  and  then  five 
chapters  treat  of  practical  matters  only  slightly  connected 
with  the  doctrinal  matters.  The  first  eleven  doctrinal 
chapters  treat  of  justification  by  faith,  and  the  first  three 
of  them  give  the  whole  substance  of  this  doctrine. 
They  show  that  the  Gospel  reveals  the  righteousness  of 
God,  which  is  by  faith,  and  then  they  show  why  men 
need  justification  by  faith — because  they  cannot  find 
justification  in  any  other  way — their  works  will  con- 
demn them,  and  if  they  find  it  at  all,  it  must  be  by 
faith.  This  takes  up  the  first  and  second  chapters  and  a 
part  of  the  third,  and  then  the  remainder  of  the  third 
chapter  tells  about  this  provision  which  God  has  made 
for  justification  by  faith,  and  how  beautifully  this  pro- 
vision works  to  take  all  the  pride  out  of  repentant  souls 
and  humble  them  into  receiving  the  great  salvation  that 
God  gives.  The  fourth  and  fifth  chapters  only  give  fur- 
ther illustration  of  justification  by  faith.  They  say  that 
Abraham  himself  was  really  justified  by  faith  (one 
whole  chapter  is  given  to  this),  and  that  this  matter  of 
our  being  justified  through  the  effect  of  Christ's  work 
of  salvation  is  only  paralleled  by  the  effect  of  Adam's 
sin  upon  his  posterity.  This  takes  a  great  part  of  the 
fifth  chapter.  These  are  mere  illustrations,  you  see, 
from  the  case  of  Abraham  and  from  the  effect  of  Adam's 


182  ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY    BOOKS. 

sill— illustrations  of  the  idea  of  our  being  justified 
through  faith  in  the  Saviour.  Then  you  come  to  chap- 
ters G,  7  and  8.  You  find  that  they  treat  of  justification 
by  faith  from  another  point  of  view,  viz.  :  In  its  bear- 
ings on  the  work  of  making  men  holy,  i.  e.,  of  sanctifi- 
cation.  Then  the  next  three  chapters  are  on  the  privi- 
leo-es  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles.  So  you  see  that  the 
Epistle  divides  into  different  departments  of  the  one 
topic,  and  after  you  have  read  it  through  several  times, 
and  tried  to  find  out  the  line  of  thought  in  it,  and  been 
willing  to  let  the  apostle  mean  what  he  wants  to  mean, 
whether  you  like  it  or  not,  I  think  you  will  find  that 
the  subjects  considered  are  not  so  very  difficult.  Of 
course,  there  are  questions  we  can  ask  about  them  at  once 
that  nobody  can  answer,  but  we  must  content  ourselves 
with  what  is  taught  us. 

Take  another  kind  of  book  :  The  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  There  you  find  there  is  a  line  of  argu- 
ment, and  one  set  of  practical  applications  that  runs 
through  the  whole  letter,  so  that  there  are  not  half  a 
dozen  sentences  in  the  Epistle  which  you  can  properly 
understand  without  reference  to  the  entire  thought  of  it 
as  a  whole.  You  must  have  that  before  your  mind  all 
the  time.  Now  what  is  the  practical  object  of  this 
Epistle  ?  Well,  after  trying  persecution  upon  the  He- 
brew Christians,  they  tried  argument,  and  persuasion ; 
tliey  used  cunningly  devised  reasoning  against  Chris- 
tianity. You  can  see  it  yourself,  if  you  look  at  the 
Epistle  and  think  about  it.  They  said.  We  nsed  to 
think  that  your  Christianity  was  only  one  form  of  Ju- 
daism ;  but  since  you  seem  to  have  got  the  idea  of  cut- 


ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS.  183 

ting  loose  from  Judaism  and  setting  up  your  Chris- 
tianity as  a  religion  by  itself,  why,  don't  you  see  that  it 
is  no  religion,  that  it  is  entirely  inferior  to  the  religion 
of  our  fathers  ?  You  had  better  give  it  up,  and  come 
back  and  be  Jews  and  nothing  but  Jews.  The  religion 
of  our  fathers  was  given  through  the  holy  angels  at 
Mount  Sinai.  Are  you  going  to  turn  away  from  it? 
The  religion  of  our  fathers  was  given  through  the  great 
and  revered  Moses.  Are  you  going  to  abandon  Moses  ? 
The  religion  of  our  fathers  is  a  religion,  with  its  mag- 
nificent temple,  its  smoking  altars,  its  sacrifices,  its 
incense,  its  robed  priesthood,  its  splendid  ritual.  The 
religion  of  our  fathers  is  a  religion  indeed  !  And  what 
is  your  Christianity,  if  it  is  to  set  up  for  itself?  Hadn't 
you  better  abandon  Christianity  ?  And  the  sacred  writer 
replies.  Nay  !  I  will  take  their  own  arguments,  and 
turn  them  all  against  them.  He  says,  "  The  religion 
of  our  fathers  was  given  through  the  angels  at  Mount 
Sinai,  but  Christianity  was  given  through  the  Son  of 
God,  and  as  the  Son  of  God  is  revealed  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament to  be  incomparably  superior  to  the  angels,  so  is 
Christianity  superior  to  Judaism.  The  religion  of  our 
fathers  was  given  through  the  great  and  revered  Moses, 
but  Moses  was  only,  as  it  is  said  in  Deuteronomy,  a 
faithful  servant  in  all  the  house,  and  the  founder  of 
Christianity  is  above  him  as  the  son  of  the  household  is 
above  the  servant.  The  religion  of  our  fathers  has  its 
outward  forms  of  worship,  but  they  are  only  the  pictures 
of  the  realities  in  the  glorious  world  beyond  those  clouds 
through  which  our  great  High  Priest  passed,  like  the 
Jewish   high   priest   through    the   vail  of  the  temple, 


184  ON   READING  THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

where  lies  the  true  Holy  of  Holies  in  the  other  world. 
And  thither  he  has  gone,  bearing  not  the  blood  of  balls 
and  goats,  but  his  own  precious  blood,  offered  not  every 
year,  but  once  for  all,  and  all  sufficieLit,  and  there  he 
stands,  not  for  a  little  time  while  they  wait  without  till 
he  appears  again,  but  there  he  ever  liveth  interceding 
for  them  that  come  to  God  through  him,  and  so  is  able 
to  save  to  the  uttermost."  Don't  you  see  that  he  takes 
every  one  of  their  own  arguments  and  turns  them  right 
against  them  to  show  the  superiority  of  Christianity  ? 
And  the  practical  bearing  of  it,  all  the  time,  is.  There- 
fore don't  abandon  Christianity  and  go  back  to  be  a 
mere  Jew  ;  don't  give  up  your  faith  in  Christianity ;  see 
the  evils  of  unbelief  and  apostasy.  As  I  said,  there  is 
hardly  a  sentence  in  the  whole  Epistle,  the  full  purport 
of  which  can  be  understood  unless  you  bear  in  mind  its 
relation  to  this  line  of  argument. 

Let  me  give  another  illustration  in  that  direction.  I 
think  in  practical  experience  one  of  the  hardest  books 
in  the  Bible  to  treat  as  a  whole,  is  the  book  of  Job.  Yet 
I  do  not  think  it  very  difficult  to  get  the  general  outline 
of  the  book  if  you  address  yourself  to  that  task,  pro- 
vided you  will  not  allow  the  beautiful  poetic  phraseology 
to  prevent  you  from  seeing  the  line  of  thought.  You 
see  that  in  the  first  place  you  have  the  prosperity  of  Job 
described,  and  then  the  sore  trials  that  were  allowed  to 
come  upon  him.  How  sore  they  were,  and  how  he  stood 
all  the  trials !  Then  you  have  his  friends  coming  to  him 
and  trcatincr  l,im  better  than  people  among  us  some- 
times treat  their  friends  who  are  in  affliction.  For  they 
go  and  talk  them  half  to  death,  and  Job's  friends  sat— 


ON    READING    THE   BIBLE    BY    BOOKS.  185 

how  many  days  and  nights  was  it  ?  — before  they  even 
spoke  a  word ;  and  then  they  go  to  talking  about  him. 
The  theme  of  their  talk  is  one  of  the  greatest  subjects 
of  sorrowful  .human  thought  in  all  the  ages  of  the 
world.  What  is  the  meaning  of  sore  afflictions  when 
God  lets  them  come  upon  men  ?  It  is  a  question  that 
has  not  been  answered  yet— one  of  the  questions  the  full 
answer  to  which,  if  it  ever  enters  into  finite  minds,  must 
be  reserved  for  the  better  light  of  the  better  world. 
But  how  much  light  is  given  upon  it  in  that  book  ?  You 
see  that  these  friends  of  Job  are  mistaken  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  they  say  many  things  about  it  that  are  not 
strictly  true.  They  are  said  from  a  perverse  point  of 
view  and  with  a  mistaken  idea  of  the  matter.  I  have 
heard  people  quote  sayings  of  those  men  as  sayings  of 
Scripture,  when  it  ought  to  be  understood  that  the 
Scripture  says  that  those  friends  of  Job  said  certain 
things  on  that  occasion,  and  how  far  they  are  exactly 
right  will  have  to  be  judged  by  looking  at  the  book  as  a 
whole,  and  cannot  be  judged  otherwise.  Now  take  one 
man  at  a  time  and  ask,  what  does  he  say  ?  And  then 
how  does  Job  reply  to  him  ?  You  will  find  that  at  first 
they  take  hold  of  the  subject  delicately.  They  say : 
"The  Almighty  is  just;  he  prospers  all  good  men  ;  he 
never  sends  sore  trials  upon  a  man  unless  that  man  has 
deserved  it."  They  do  not  say  yet,  "  You  have  deserved 
all  these  sore  afflictions.'^  They  hint  it.  And  then  Job 
begins  to  reply ;  he  gets  warm  with  the  argument ;  he 
sees  what  they  are  hinting  at ;  he  says :  "  I  have  not 
committed  any  enormous  sins,  greater  than  men  around 
me,  to  bring  on  me  these  great  afflictions."     Then  they 


186  ON    READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

come  squarely  to  the  point  and  say,  "  Oh,  Job,  yon  had 
better  confess  it.  The  Ahnighty  has  found  you  out. 
We  never  knew  that  you  were  a  very  bad  man  ;  we 
thought  you  were  a  very  good  man.  Everybody  thought 
so;  but  the  Almighty  has  laid  his  finger  upon  you,  and 
that  allows  that  you  have  committed  great  sins,  and  you 
had  better  confess  them  now,  and  maybe  you  will  be 
forgiven."  Job  warms  still  more  ;  he  lifts  his  hand  to 
high  heaven,  and  says :  "  God  knows  that  I  have  not 
committed  any  such  great  sins  as  you  speak  of  at  all. 
Oh,  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  him,  that  I  might 
get  away  from  you  who  will  not  do  me  justice,  and  do 
not  understand  me.  Before  him  I  could  argue  my  case." 
And  so  the  discussion  goes  on,  in  an  extremely  interest- 
ing way,  the  great  thought  being,  whether  great  suffer- 
ings do  prove  that  a  person  has  been  guilty  of  extraor- 
dinary sins.  Then  a  young  man  comes  in,  and — it  is  a 
lesson  which  old  men  would  do  well  to  lay  to  heart — the 
young  man  talks  more  wisely  than  all  the  old  men  had 
done,  though  he  does  not  explain  the  matter  yet ;  still  he 
says  :  "Ah,  the  Almighty  is  greater  than  we,  and  we  must 
not  expect  to  understand  all  about  him ;  we  must  try  to 
submit  ourselves  to  his  ways,  even  though  we  do  not 
understand  them."  And  then  Jehovah  himself  appears. 
I  remember  how,  when  I  was  a  lad,  I  was  first  reading 
the  book  of  Job,  with  some  help  in  getting  the  idea, 
and  when  I  reached  this  point  my  heart  took  a  leap.  I 
said  :  "  Now  Jehovah  himself  appears,  and  he  will  clear 
the  whole  matter  up."  But  he  does  not ;  he  simply 
says  :  "  Who  are  you  ?  What  are  you  talking  about  ? 
What  do  you  know?     What  power  have  you  ?     What 


ON   READING  THE   BIBLE    BY   BOOKS.  187 

wisdom  have  you  to  survey  the  universe  and  compass 
eternity  ?  Why  should  you  expect  to  understand  every- 
thing ?  Kemcmber  how  great  am  I  and  remember  how 
little  are  you,  and  bow  yourselves  in  humility,  even 
where  you  cannot  understand.'^  And  oh !  friends  and 
brethren,  amid  all  our  wide,  wild  questionings  in  life — 
and  rightful  questions  too,  if  they  are  not  mad — the 
loftiest  knowledge  in  human  life  is  to  learn  how  to  be 
willing,  when  we  cannot  understand  Jehovah's  ways,  to 
bow  to  Jehovah's  will,  and  put  our  sole  trust  in  him. 

There  is  only  one  more  book  that  I  shall  mention  for 
illustration.  Do  you  read  the  book  of  Revelation  in 
your  family  much  ?  Do  you  preach  about  it  much  in 
your  pulpit  ?  I  do  not  know  whether  to  hope  that  you 
do  or  do  not,  because  a  great  deal  of  the  preaching 
about  this  book,  and  writing  about  it  that  I  have  come 
in  contact  with,  would  better  have  been  let  alone, 
according  to  my  judgment ;  but  the  greatest  evil  that 
happens  about  it  is,  that  a  great  many  good  people  are 
led  to  neglect  the  book  of  Revelation.  I  asked  a  very 
able  minister  once,  '^  Do  you  pay  much  attention  to  the 
book  of  Revelation  ?"  He  said,  "  No.  I  have  no 
opinion  of  these  calculations  of  prophecy,  that  have 
been  made  a  hundred  times  over,  and  a  hundred  times 
over  have  turned  out  failures.  I  don't  believe  those 
men  know  anything  about  it,  and  I  am  sure  I  don't. 
And  so  I  think  I  had  better  read  somewhere  else." 
Meantime,  get  your  little  child  to  say,  if  your  child  has 
heard  the  Bible  read  much,  whereabouts  you  shall  read 
the  next  time,  and  see  if  the  child  does  not  say,  "  Please 
turn  over  there  to  that  last  part  and  read  that  again." 


188  ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

There  is  much  in  the  book  of  Revelation  that  takes 
hokl  upon  chiklren.  Allow  me  to  mention  a  personal 
reminiscence  of  something  that  touched  me  very  much. 
Years  ao-o,  when  my  family  included  servants,  I  used  to 
try  very  hard  to  get  the  servants  and  the  children 
interested  in  the  family  worship.  I  tried  the  parables  ; 
I  tried  the  life  of  our  Lord ;  I  tried  many  other  parts 
of  the  Bible  ;  sometimes  they  were  interested,  and  some- 
times not,  and  at  length  it  occurred  to  me,  "  Now  I  will 
see  if  they  will  not  be  interested  in  the  Revelation,  that 
contains  so  much  beautiful  imagery."  So  I  began,  and  I 
found  that  the  servants  and  the  children  were  very  much 
interested  for  several  days.  I  tried  to  explain  a  little, 
and  I  could  do  that  very  well  for  the  first  few  chapters 
about  the  churches,  etc.,  and  could  explain  the  scene  of 
worship  in  heaven  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  chapters. 
Then  we  got  on  into  the  opening  of  the  seals  and  the 
sounding  of  the  trumpets,  and  I  stopped  explaining,  for 
a  reason  that  you  can  perhaps  conjecture.  But  I  did  not 
stop  reading.  They  told  me  to  go  on  with  it.  They  all 
seemed  to  be  interested.  At  length,  after  many  days,  we 
were  far  over  in  the  middle  of  Revelation,  and  I  Avas 
reading  some  of  that  splendid,  solemn,  impressive 
imagery  that  is  there  presented — like  the  unrolling  of  a 
mighty  panorama,  scene  after  scene  of  wonder  and 
power,  and  struggle  and  conflict,  and  hope  and  promise — 
and  one  day  as  I  was  reading  I  looked  up  through  my 
tears  and  all  the  circle,  from  the  aged  grandmother  down 
to  the  little  child,  were  in  tears  too.  You  may  say  we 
did  not  know  exactly  what  it  was  about.  Yes,  we  did. 
It  was  about  God — about  God    looking  down  on  this 


ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY    BOOKS.  189 

world  of  ours,  about  the  sorrows  and  struggles  of  this 
human  life  and  the  fact  that  God  sees  it  all,  is  watching 
and  controlling  it  all. 

I  have  mentioned  this  for  a  purpose.  I  beseech  you, 
read  the  book  of  Revelation.  If  you  have  no  definite 
views  as  to  the  predictive  portions  of  the  book  (and  I 
have  not,  I  confess),  let  them  alone,  but  read  for  the  sake 
of  practical  instruction  ;  that  the  book  may  bring  Jesus, 
the  exalted  Redeemer,  close  to  you ;  that  it  may  make 
clear  to  you  the  idea  that  heaven  is  the  headquarters  of 
the  Christian,  from  which  the  angels  come  as  messengers 
to  bring  the  word  of  command,  and  carry  back  word 
as  to  what  is  going  on  in  this  battlefield  of  life.  The 
book  of  Revelation  tells  us  that  these  sorrows,  tempta- 
tions and  trials  are  to  end  at  last  in  complete  victory, 
and  in  everlasting  peace  and  joy.  And  to  get  sentiments 
like  these,  oh  ye  cultivated  men  and  women,  in  this  cul- 
tivated age  of  ours— to  get  tender,  devoted,  loving  sen- 
timents like  these  deeply  impressed  upon  loving  hearts, 
is  worth  all  culture  that  falls  short  of  them. 

Now,  I  have  just  two  or  three  remarks  to  make  in 
conclusion.  If  we  read  the  Bible  by  books,  first  taking 
each  book  as  a  whole,  then  seeing  how  it  is  divided  up, 
then  taking  the  several  divisions  and  treating  them,  and 
so  coming  down  to  details,  we  shall  learn  in  that  way,  and 
learn  for  ourselves  how  to  interpret  the  several  parts  of 
Scripture  with  reference  to  their  connection.  Every- 
body will  agree  that  you  ought  to  look  at  the  connection 
of  a  passage  of  Scripture.  I  remember  one  day  my 
father  said  he  did  not  like  to  find  fault  with  preachers, 
but  he  wished  some  of  them  would  pay  more  attention 


190  ON   EEADING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

to  the  connection  of  the  text,  as  the  preacher  that  morn- 
ing did  not  do.  I  suppose  they  have  grown  wiser  since  that 
day,  and  always  do  pay  attention  to  the  connection  now. 
But  in  talking  about  it  my  father  said,  "  Now,  I  can 
prove  to  you  out  of  the  Bible — it  was  an  illustration  to 
a  little  child — that  there  is  no  God.''  He  got  his  Bible, 
opened  it  to  a  certain  place,  put  his  finger  down  and 
said,  "  Come  here  and  read  ; ''  and  the  boy  read,  "  There 
is  no  God,''  and  it  began  with  a  capital  T,  too,  as  if  it 
were  a  complete  sentence.  Then  my  father  lifted  his 
finger  and  said,  "How  is  that?  ^The  fool  hath  said  in 
his  heart.  There  is  no  God.'  "  "  Now,"  he  said,  "  don't 
you  see,  you  must  always  attend  to  the  connection." 
That  was  a  very  simple  lesson,  certainly.  What  is  the 
connection  of  a  passage  of  Scripture  ?  Only  the  other  part 
of  the  sentence  ?  Well,  there  are  preachers  sometimes  who 
do  not  attend  even  to  the  other  part  of  the  sentence,  and  it 
may  be  true  of  some  other  persons  besides  preachers. 
But  is  that  all  the  connection,  only  a  sentence  before  or 
after  a  particular  passage  you  are  considering  ?  Some- 
times that  is  all,  but  in  other  cases  it  is  a  page  or  tw^o 
that  is  the  connection,  and,  as  I  have  said,  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  and  in  the  book  of  Job,  it  is  the  w^hole 
book  that  is  the  connection  ;  you  cannot  be  sure  that  you 
are  getting  the  precise  point  of  view  and  the  real  meaning 
of  any  one  of  the  sentences,  unless  you  take  it  as  a  part 
of  the  whole,  and  with  reference  to  the  whole  line  of 
thought  and  practical  design.  You  see  how  important 
it  IS  that  we  should  learn  to  study  every  particular  ex- 
pression of  Scripture  in  its  connection.  It  is  a  very 
beautiful  thing  to  pick  out  the  passages  of  Scripture  that 


ON   READING   THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS.  191 

treat  of  some  particular  subject,  as  you  can  do  with  the 
help  of  a  concordance,  and  put  them  together  in  a  mo- 
saic. It  is  like  taking  many  pebbles  and  combining  them, 
as  the  Romans  were  fond  of  doing,  into  a  mosaic.    That 
is  a  very  delightful  thing,  only  be  sure  about  your  ma- 
terial.    Take  care  that  you  see  where  these  things  come 
from,  and  that  you  have  got  them  right.  No  man  would 
be  so  unwise  as  to  take  out  of  the  Epistle  of  Paul   "  A 
man  is  justified  by  faith  without  the  works  of  the  law," 
and  then  take  a  fragment  out  of  James,  *^  We  know  that 
a  man  is  justified  by  works  and  not  by  faith  only,''  and 
lay  those  two  together  and  say,  "  How  beautiful  is  the 
harmony  of  Scripture ! ''  We  know  we   must  see  what 
Paul  was  talking  about  and  to  whom  he  was  talkino-, 
and  to  what  sort  of  persons  James  was    talking,  and 
what  he  was  talking  at,  in  order  to  judge  what  each 
meant  by  this  particular  form  of  expression ;  we  dare 
not  put  those  two  passages  side  by  side  and  neglect  the 
connection.     Now  in  many  other  cases  the  difficulty  and 
danger  are  not  so  obvious,  but  they  may  be  just  as  real. 
So  often,  when  a  man  with  his  concordance  is  picking 
out  passages  that  all  contain  a  certain  word  or  refer  to 
a  certain  subject,  and  laying  them  all  together  in  a  beau- 
tiful picture  to  please  the  eye,  it  is  as  if  he  made  a  mo- 
saic in  this  fashion  :  Here  is  a  pebble  and  there  is  a  dia- 
mond ;  here  is  a  crumb  of  sugar  and  there  is  a  flower 
bulb ;  and  those  make  a  mosaic,  do  they  ?     A  mosaic  is 
a  beautiful  thing,  but  your  materials  must  be  harmonious. 
You  must  know  where  these  things  come  from.     You 
must  understand  their  connection,  or  else  you  will  break 
living  things  all  to  pieces,  in  order  to  build  up  the  dead 
fragments  into  a  dead  thing. 


192  ON   READING  THE   BIBLE   BY   BOOKS. 

Then  another  remark.  Each  of  these  sacred  books 
has  its  special  aim  and  practical  value,  and  we  ought  to 
try  to  get  the  practical  impression  that  each  of  them  is 
designed  to  make.  For  instance,  each  of  the  Gospels 
presents  certain  aspects  of  the  life,  character  and  work 
of  our  Lord.  Those  aspects  are  often  overstated  in  the 
books  about  them,  but  you  can  catch  the  matter  practi- 
cally. Next  year  when  we  shall  all  be  studying  the 
Gospel  of  Mark,  in  Sunday-School  lessons,  the  attention 
of  half  the  Christian  world  will  be  turned  to  those  par- 
ticular aspects  of  the  life,  character  and  teachings  of  Jesus 
which  are  presented  in  that  Gospel.  You  read  one  Gos- 
pel to  see  how  that  presents  Jesus,  and  each  of  the  other 
Gospels  to  see  how  it  presents  him,  and  if  you  have  done 
that  and  then  try  to  blend  them  all  together  in  your  lov- 
ing faith,  and  reverence  and  humble  desire  to  live  like 
him,  God  being  your  helper,  and  to  bring  others  with 
you  to  follow  him  too,  you  have  made  the  most  beauti- 
ful harmony  of  the  Gospels  that  ever  is  made  in  this 
world.  So  as  to  other  portions  of  the  Scripture.  We 
ought  to  get  the  devout  and  practical  inspiration  which 
each  particular  book  is  designed  to  give,  and  these,  one 
after  another,  will  unite  themselves  together  in  the  sym- 
metry of  a  complete  Christian  character,  and  the  fulness 
and  power  of  a  true  Christian  life. 

It  is  not  an  accident,  brethren,  that  in  this  age,  in 
which  infidelity  has  anew  become  blatant  and  arrogant, 
the  Bible  is  more  studied  than  ever  it  was  before.  It  is 
not  an  accident  that  there  is  a  new  demand,  throughout 
the  Christian  world,  springing  up  for  Biblical,  ex- 
pository preaching.     There  has  not  been  such  a  desire 


ON    READING   THE   BIBLE   BY    BOOKS.  193 

outside  of  ScotlaDd,  the  great  and  noble  home  of  ex- 
pository preaching,  for  many  generations.  It  is  not  an 
accident  that  these  Bible-readings,  which  have  done  so 
much  in  our  time,  and  will  do  so  much,  have  become 
popular  just  now.  People  don't  know  about  believing  the 
preacher  nowadays,  and  a  great  many  people  don't  know 
about  acknowledging  the  authority  of  a  church  as  they  once 
did  ;  but  the  people  who  come  to  hear  the  gospel,  if  you 
bring  them  something  right  out  of  the  Bible,  not  a  broken, 
dead  fragment,  but  a  part  of  the  living  whole,  full  of  the 
true,  divine  life,  and  show  them  its  meaning  as  God  has 
taught  it,  and  lay  that  meaning,  explained,  upon  their 
hearts  and  their  lives,  the  people  everywhere  respond  to 
that ;  they  like  it ;  they  feel  that  that  is  good.  It  is  not 
an  accident  that  in  a  time  when  infidelity  is  so  bold  and 
noisy,  there  has  come  this  revived  love  of  Bible-study 
and  Bible-preaching,  Bible-readings,  Bible-classes  and 
Bible- work  in  general. 

They  say  that  the  cultivated  mind  of  the  age  has  had 
enough  of  the  Bible.  Does  it  look  as  though  people  had 
stopped  reading  the  Bible  ?  You  see  men  in  the  street- 
cars reading  the  New  Testament.  When  I  passed 
through  Cincinnati  on  Monday,  I  ran  to  a  book-store  to 
get  a  copy  of  the  Revised  New  Testament,  and  I  saw  a 
man  buy,  before  my  eyes,  the  last  copy  they  had,  out  of 
a  thousand  sold  over  the  counter  that  morning.  God  be 
thanked  for  this  revived  demand  for  it.  But,  oh,  men 
and  brethren,  we  do  not  read  the  Bible  as  we  ought  to 
read.  It  is  easier  to  eulogize  the  Bible  than  to  love  it. 
It  is  as  easy  to  praise  as  it  is  for  some  poor,  silly 
opposer  to  make  sport  of  the  Bible.  Dr.  Johnson  said 
13 


194      ON  READING  THE  BIBLE  BY  BOOKS. 

that  a  man  of  real  wit  would  be  ashamed  to  make  jests 
about  the  Bible,  because  it  is  too  easy  to  do.  It  is  just 
as  easy  to  eulogize  the  Bible  and  then  to  neglect  it. 

I  have  spoken  with  the  hope  that  I  might  by  God's 
blessing  awaken  in  some  of  you  at  least  a  greater  desire 
to  read  the  Bible  attentively,  and  I  pray  God  that  we 
may  all  turn  away  with  an  earnest  promise  in  our  own 
souls,  before  him  who  knows  the  heart,  that  in  the  re- 
mainder of  our  lives  we  will  try  to  love  his  word  more, 
to  read  it  more  wisely,  and  to  live  more  according  to  its 
blessed  teachings. 

If  anybody  wishes  to  ask  questions  about  these  mat- 
ters, and  you  are  willing  to  listen  a  few  minutes,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  answer  them  if  I  can. 

Q,  You  spoke  of  analyses.  What  analyses  would 
you  recommend  ? 

A.  The  analyses  which  are  contained  in  Home's  In- 
troduction are  very  good  for  this  purpose.  It  is  an  old 
book  which  can  be  picked  up  anywhere.  The  analyses 
in  Angus's  Bible  Hand-book  are  short  and  very  good 
for  this  purpose. 

Q.  If  a  person  has  read  the  Bible  through  two  or 
three  times,  and  has  a  general  idea  of  it,  would  you  ad- 
vise his  slopping  that  plan,  and  spending  the  time  on 
separate  books? 

A.  The  best  of  all  ways,  of  course,  would  be  to  read 
the  Bible  in  three  different  ways  at  once,  if  a  man  had 
time  for  it — to  read  very  rapidly  through  the  Bible  once 
or  twice  a  year,  also  read  some  books  carefully,  and  daily 
some  small  portions  as  a  part  of  private  devotions.  But 
I  should  say  that  most  persons  would  find  it  better,  in- 


ON    READING   THE   BIBLE   BY    BOOKS.  195 

stead  of  continuing  to  read  it  through  in  the  way  you 
mention,  to  take  a  book  and  study  in  the  way  I  have 
indicated. 

Q.  AVhat  book  woukl  you  advise  a  young  convert  to 
begin  with  ? 

A.  Well,  that  would  depend  upon  his  previous  Bible 
knowledge  and  general  intelligence.  But  I  think  that 
there  is  nothing  so  important  for  the  young  Christian  as 
to  read  the  story  of  Jesus  himself  as  told  in  the  Gospels. 
The  whole  thought  and  feeling  of  our  time  seems  to 
gather  itself  about  the  idea  of  Jesus.  That  is  the  cita- 
del of'  the  Scriptures  for  attack  and  defence,  and 
that  is  the  heart  of  the  Scriptures  for  love.  I  should 
say  to  the  young  convert,  "  Head  the  Gospel  of  Mark ; 
then  read  Matthew,  Luke  and  John." 

Q.  Would  you  advise  haste  in  going  from  one  book 
to  another  before  you  have  got  the  best  judgment  ou 
one  ? 

A.  It  would  depend  upon  your  knowledge  of  Scrip- 
ture whether  you  should  go  rapidly.  It  would  depend 
upon  your  own  staying  qualities,  too. 

Q.  If  you  wanted  to  impress  a  skeptical  man,  who 
was  seeking  sincerely  for  light,  with  the  inward  truth 
of  the  Scripture,  what  book  would  you  advise  him  to 
begin  with  ? 

A.  Oh,  I  should  give  him  the  Gospels,  and  tell  him, 
"  Try  to  get  near  to  Jesus  Christ ;  try  as  you  read  it  to 
seem  to  be  looking  at  him  and  listening  to  him.'' 

Q.  Would  you  advise  the  reading  of  books  of  the 
New  Testament  and  books  of  the  Old  together  for  the 
light  they  throw  on  one  another? 


106  ox    READING   THE   BIBLE   BY    BOOKS. 

A.  Tliat  is  very  desirable  sometimes.  Leviticus  and 
Hebrews  may  be  read  together  very  profitably;  or 
Matthew  and  Isaiah.  There  are  different  expedients 
that  each  person  will  discover  and  adopt  according  to  his 
own  judgment  and  advantages. 

Q.  Do  you  recommend  the  use  of  the  marginal  refer- 
ences ? 


A.  They  are  very  desirable  indeed,  provided  you  pay 
attention  to  the  connection  which  you  find  referred  to. 
You  must  not  take  them  as  scraps,  and  put  them  where 
they  are  cited  as  if  they  belonged  there.  You  must  re- 
member where  they  do  belong. 

Q.  What  brief  word  of  counsel  would  you  give  in  re- 
gard to  the  use  of  commentaries  ? 

A.  Well,  it  would  be  this  :  Be  sure  you  get  the  very 
best  commentaries  there  are  ;  for  there  are  commentaries 
and  commentaries. 

Q.  Will  you  please  recommend  one? 

A.  AVell,  that  is  a  very  hard  thing  to  do  here.  Use 
your  commentaries  all  that  you  can,  provided  you  do 
not  read  them  instead  of  reading  the  sacred  text.  Read 
the  Bible  itself  in  its  own  connection,  and  commentaries 
to  help.  I  remember  a  singing-master  from  whom  I 
took  lessons  when  a  lad.  When  the  ladies  would  not 
beat  time,  he  used  to  stop  and  say,  ^^  Why  don't  you 
beat  time?  Ladies,  if  you  can't  sing  and  beat  time 
both,  stop  singing  and  beat  time."  If  you  can't  read 
the  Bible  and  commentaries  both,  let  commentaries 
alone. 

Q.  Would  you  advise  the  marking  of  Bibles? 

A.  Yes ;  mark  them  in  every  way. 


ON    HEADING   THE    BIBLE    BY    BOOKS.  197 

Q.  Would  you  not  advise  much  prayer  and  com- 
munion with  God  in  the  study  of  the  Bible,  in  order  to 
a  better  understanding  of  it? 

A.  Oh,  assuredly  I  should  advise  prayer  and  com- 
munion with  God.  I  ought  not  to  have  taken  that  for 
granted.  I  blame  myself  that  I  did  not  say  that.  We 
ought  to  })ray  to  God  every  time,  for  that  is  the  heart 
of  the  matter. 

Q.  A  young  man  asked  me  to  ask  you,  how  should 
we  learn  to  love  the  study  of  the  Bible  ? 

A.  Well,  that  is  a  good  question  ;  but,  like  a  good 
many  others  of  the  wisest  questions,  the  answer  cuts 
deep.  To  love  the  reading  of  the  Bible  more,  we  must 
love  him  more  of  whom  it  tells  us.  And  then,  by  read- 
ing the  Bible  more,  we  shall  learn  to  love  him  more. 
And  then,  by  trying  to  live  the  way  the  Bible  tells  us 
to  live,  we  shall  read  it  with  more  satisfaction  and  un- 
derstanding. For  if  any  man  is  willing  to  do  the  will 
of  God,  he  will  know  concerning  the  doctrine. 

Q.  Would  you  advise  regular  hours  for  Bible  study? 

A.  Oh,  yes,  yes,  yes.  Regular  hours  for  reading  the 
Bible,  and  irregular  ones  to  boot.  It  depends  upon 
your  mode  of  life  what  hour  is  to  be  chosen. 

Q.  Would  you  recommend  the  morning  hour  rather 
than  the  evening  ? 

A.  That  depends  upon  whether  you  are  an  early 
riser.  I  do  not  think  you  can  lay  down  any  law  in  re- 
gard to  that  matter.  Everybody  must  find  out  for  him- 
self what  his  circumstances  and  his  habits  will  allow 
him  to  do  most  profitably. 


XIII. 

MINISTERIAL  EDUCATION* 

Give  dUigrnce  to  present  thyself  approved  tinto  God,  a  workman 
that  needeth  not  to  he  ashamed,  handling  aright  the  word  of  truth. — 
2  Timothy,  2  :  14. 

IAYISH  first  to  indicate  some  of  the  leading  thoughts 
in  this  passage  of  Scripture,  in  the  second  chapter  of 
second  Timothy,  beginning  at  the  14th  verse.  The 
apostle  is  speaking  to  Timothy,  not  only  with  reference 
to  his  own  duty,  but  to  the  qualifications  of  the  men  w^ho 
are  to  be  selected  as  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  whom 
he  must  instruct.  Addressing  Timothy  himself,  he 
says  :  "  Give  diligence  to  present  thyself  approved  un- 
to God,  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed.^^ 
The  image  is  obvious  to  all.  A  minister  of  the  gospel 
is  compared  to  a  mechanic,  a  skilled  workman,  a  man  who 
has  stood  the  test  and  is  approved,  and  then  his  skill  in  his 
work  is  shown  by  the  added  phrase,  ''  a  workman  that 
needeth  not  to  be  ashamed,  handling;  ario;ht  the  word  of 
truth."  The  term  means  literally  "  cutting  straight " 
as  you  read  in  the  margin.  Perhaps  the  phrase  came 
from  the  idea  of  a  carpenter  cutting  a  straight  line  with 
his  saw  ;  possibly  from  Paul's  early  trade.  It  required 
a  very  skillful  workman  to  cut  straight  with   scissors 

•  Sermon  before  the  Missouri  Baptist  E<lucational  Society,  at  Liberty, 
Mo.  (the  seat  of  Wm.  Jewell  College),  iu  1881. 

198 


MINISTERIAL    EDUCATION.  199 

the  rough  hair  cloth  of  which  they  made  the  Cilician 
tents.  Whatever  be  its  origin,  the  term  denotes,  in  a 
general  way,  skillful  work — a  workman  that  needeth  not 
to  be  ashamed,  cutting  straight,  handling  aright  the  word 
of  truth.  A  skilled  workman  is  the  minister.  Then 
the  apostle  proceeds  to  indicate  for  Timothy  himself,  and 
for  the  faithful  men  to  whom  these  things  are  to  be  com- 
mitted that  they  may  teach  others  also,  the  importance  of 
knowing  how  to  avoid  seductive  and  ruinous  errors. 
He  says  of  these,  "  charge  them  that  they  strive  not 
about  words,"  mere  logomachies,  "  to  no  profit.  Shun 
the  profane  babblings.'^  Presently  he  mentions  ex- 
amples, Hymenssus  and  Philetus,  who  had  thought  that 
the  resurrection  was  a  mere  spiritual  resurrection  and 
past  already,  and  had  overthrown  the  faith  of  some,  and 
Timothy  and  the  other  ministers  must  know  how  to 
shun  these  hurtful  errors.  If  they  do  so,  they  shall  be 
like  the  gold  or  silver  vessels,  honored  in  the  Master's 
house.  Another  point  about  them  is  that  tliey  must 
not  be  given  to  mere  babbling.  "  Foolish  and  ignorant 
questionings  refuse,  knowing  that  they  gender  strifes." 
The  word  is  literally  "  fightings  "  or  ^*  battles,"  and  the 
Lord's  servant  must  not  strive,  must  not  be  a  fighter. 
In  another  sense,  of  course,  we  all  know  that  tlie  Scrip- 
tures teach  that  we  must  fight,  but  you  see  what  is  meant 
here.  It  is  so  easy  for  a  man  to  be  a  fighting  minister  ! 
Some  men  are  fighting  ministers  for  the  very  reason  that 
they  have  not  what  the  apostle  here  enjoined.  The 
Lord's  servant  must  not  be  a  fighter,  but  must  '^  be  gentle, 
apt  to  teach,  forbearing  in  meekness,  correcting  them  that 
oppose  themselves."     Many  a  man  is  a  fighting  preacher 


200  MINISTERIAL    EDUCATION. 

because  he  does  not  know  how  to  do  anything  else.  It 
requires  some  wisdom  and  some  skill  to  teach  aptly,  to 
correct  with  gentleness  and  meekness  the  errors  of  those 
who  oppose  themselves,  and  try  to  win  them  to  the  truth; 
but  just  to  fight  requires  no  skill  at  all. 

You  see,  then,  this  passage  presents  very  varied  quali- 
fications for  the  minister  of  the  gospel — spiritual  and 
mental  qualifications  combined.  Of  the  mental  quali- 
fications, you  see  that  it  indicates  some  that  belong  to 
men  by  nature  and  others  that  come  by  cultivation ;  and 
as  to  the  qualifications  that  come  from  cultivation — ac- 
quired skill — these  come  partly  in  the  actual  exercise  of 
the  duties  of  the  minister,  but  they  may  come  all  the 
better  if  there  be  special  early  training  for  it.  Take 
the  image  of  the  mechanic.  "  The  only  way  to  learn  to 
preach  is  to  preach,"  the  fathers  used  to  say.  Certainly. 
The  only  way  to  learn  to  saw  is  to  saw,  or  to  learn  how 
to  make  horse-shoes  is  to  make  them.  At  the  same 
time,  it  is  the  experience  of  mankind  that  while  some 
men  take  up  these  pursuits  and  acquire  some  skill  merely 
from  their  practice,  yet  it  is  usually  better  for  a  man  who 
proposes  to  be  a  mechanic,  to  w^ork  in  his  early  attempts 
under  the  guidance  and  with  the  correction  and  encour- 
agement of  those  who  are  far  ahead  of  him  in  experience; 
and  if  men  have  found  that  so  in  all  the  mechanical  arts, 
why  should  we  be  surprised  to  find  it  so  in  the  great 
work  of  life  of  which  the  apostle  speaks  ?  "  A  workman 
that  necdeth  not  to  be  ashamed." 

Our  passage,  then,  brings  before  us  the  great  subject  of 
the  qualifications  and  the  training  of  ministers  of  the 
gospel.     AA'here  do  we  stand  to-day,  my  brethren,  as  to 


MINISTERIAL   EDUCATION.  201 

ministerial  education  ?  \yhat  is  the  duty  of  to-day  in 
regard  to  it  ?  As  to  our  past,  there  is  in  it  much  to  be 
thankful  for,  and  of  course  much  to  lament.  I  believe, 
for  my  part,  that  the  theory  of  the  Baptist  churches  as  to 
the  ministry  of  the  gospel  is  a  right  theory,  substantially. 
That  theory  has  always  been  that  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel  ought  not  to  be  restricted  to  men  who  have  been 
over  a  certain  fixed  course  of  mental  training  in  order  to 
it,  but  that  every  one  should  be  encouraged  to  preach 
who  feels  moved  to  preach,  and  whom  the  churches 
are  willing  to  hear.  At  the  same  time,  it  has  always 
been  the  theory  that  every  minister  of  the  gospel  should 
seek  to  be  a  competent  and  enlightened  man  in  general, 
and  in  particular  that  he  must  be  a  man  who  has  sound 
views  of  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures,  and  knows  how 
to  explain  them  to  others.  Our  brethren  have  never  held  that 
it  was  a  good  thing  for  a  minister  to  be  ignorant,  but 
they  have  held  that  it  was  not  a  disqualification  for  a 
minister  to  be  destitute  of  this  or  that  particular  kind  of 
mental  training,  provided  only  that  he  had  some  power 
to  preach,  and  people  were  willing  to  hear  him.  That 
theory  I  think  is  right.  It  is  what  the  Scriptures  en- 
join. It  is  what  was  true  of  the  early  teachers  of  the 
gospel — not  only  the  inspired  men,  but  others.  It  has 
been  an  absolute  necessity  for  this  new  country  of  ours. 
I  have  profound  respect  for  the  ministry  of  the  Presby- 
terian and  Episcopal  brethren,  for  instance,  but  I 
w^onder  sometimes  what  in  the  world  would  have 
become  of  the  masses  of  the  people  in  America  if 
all  the  religious  persuasions  had  done  as  they  have  done 
with  reference  to  the  ministry.  They  have  had  for  them- 


202  MINISTERIAL    EDUCATION. 

selves  a  cultivated  ministry,  in  general,  and  they  have 
hud  all  the  benefit  of  this  select  and  exclusive  arrange- 
ment as  to  the  ministry,  and  some  of  them  all  the  pride 
of  it — which  is  natural.  But  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the 
great  Methodist  and  great  Baptist  bodies,  and  some  others 
like  them,  who  have  encouraged  men  to  preach  that 
were  destitute  of  this  artificial  course  of  training,  what 
in  the  world  would  have  become  of  the  masses  of  the 
people  ?  It  has  been  bad  enough  as  it  was ;  it  would 
have  been  flat  ruin  if  all  denominations  in  our  new 
country,  where  most  of  the  lawyers  and  most  of  the 
dixtors  have  been  men  without  any  special  training,  had 
insisted  that  it  should  be  otherwise  wdtli  the  ministry. 
I  am  not  ashamed,  therefore,  of  the  facr  that  I  belong  to 
a  body  of  Christians  which  has  a  great  number  of  com- 
paratively uneducated  ministers.  I  think  that  in  our 
past  this  has  been  unavoidable.  I  think  it  has  been  a 
necessary  part  of  trying  to  see  the  gospel  as  it  is  and  do 
our  duty  to  the  people  among  whom  we  were  cast.  But 
tilings  are  changing.  Oh,  how  fast  they  change  !  A 
man  who  comes  from  my  part  of  the  world  to  this,  finds 
that  all  his  knowledge  of  geography  has  vanished.  He 
does  not  know  anything  about  the  country  at  all. 
States  that  were  thought  new  when  some  of  us  can  re- 
member, are  old  States  now,  and  all  around  me  I  hear 
I)('()l)le  talk  of  'Agoing  AVest,"  which  seems  strange  to 
me.  Tilings  are  changing,  changing  fast  as  to  education, 
and  we  nmst  change  with  them,  and  if  our  Baptist 
churches  have  not  wisdom  to  see  that  the  conditions 
which  justified  our  past  as  to  our  ministry  are  changing 
and  nipidly  ceasing  to  justify  them,  then  they  will  pay 


MINISTERIAL    EDUCATION.  203 

the  penalty  of  their  lack  of  wisdom.  It  may  be  that  we 
have  gone  too  far  even  in  the  past,  and  that  some  are 
going  too  far  now  in  encouraging  the  entrance  of  men  in- 
to the  ministry  who  are  unfitted  for  it ;  some  unfitted  by 
their  grievous  ignorance,  and  others  still  more  ruinously 
unfitted — I  pray  you  agree  with  me  in  tlie  statement — 
by  their  lack  of  sense.  For  I  can  find  you  ignorant 
men  who  ruin  the  Queen's  English  and  yet  have  sense 
and  character  and  have  done  great  good  ;  and  I  can  find 
you  men  that  can  speak  passable  English  enough,  and 
even  prate  about  the  learned  languages,  but  from  sheer 
weakness  and  silliness  have  always  been  a  disgrace  to 
the  ministry.  It  may  be  that  some  of  us  are  going  too 
fast  now,  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  towards  the  op- 
posite extreme — inclining  too  much  to  take  up  the  other 
idea,  that  all  ministers  ought  to  have  a  certain  artifi- 
cially-fixed kind  and  grade  of  preparation  for  their 
work.  It  may  be,  my  brethren,  that  in  connection  with 
institutions  of  learning  Ave  are  somewhat  prone  to  go 
from  the  one  extreme  to  the  other;  and  if  that  be  so, 
we  ought  to  look  the  danger  in  the  face  and  guard 
against  it. 

What  I  wish  to  speak  of,  then,  is  our  present  duty  as 
to  ministerial  education.  And  I  have  three  points  of 
remark  about  it. 

First, — M'misterial  education  must  go  hand  in  hand 
with  general  education.  It  ought  to  keep  in  advance ; 
but  it  cannot  be,  as  a  general  thing,  far  in  advance  of 
the  education  of  the  people.  They  must  go  together. 
Why,  with  our  free  system  of  choice,  you  cannot  get  the 
churches   to   prefer  a  well-educated    man,  unless   they 


204  MINISTERIAL    EDUCATION. 

have  some  education  themselves.  A  man  who  has  been 
reared  among  intelligent  people  and  has  been  well  edu- 
cated, and  who  then  goes  to  preach  among  the  very 
ignorant,  is  startled  to  find  how  prejudiced  they  are 
against  his  ideas  and  against  him.  You  will  pardon  a 
very  homely  illustration  of  it,  egotistical  in  addition. 
I  remember  to  have  had  the  honor,  twelve  or  fifteen 
years  ago,  to  be  elected  pastor  of  a  very  large  country 
church  in  Upper  South  Carolina — the  largest  country 
congregation  I  ever  saw — where  there  were  many  noble 
people,  too;  but  they  liad  just  been  gathered  in  by  hun- 
dreds, by  good  men,  and  never  taught  from  the  pulpit 
that  there  were  any  Christian  duties  to  perform.  At 
the  end  of  a  year  of  earnest  attempt  to  preach  there, 
with  many  encouraging  results,  I  had  the  cheering  in- 
telligence that  a  good  sister  in  the  neighborhood  had 
said,  with  reference  to  the  justly  beloved  old  man  who 
had  preceded  me,  that  slie  ^^had  rather  hear  dear  old 
Uncle  Toll  give  out  one  verse  of  a  hime  than  to  hear 
that  'ar  Greenville  preacher  go  through  a  whole  sar- 
mon."  You  will  pardon  me,  for  I  wanted  to  illustrate 
the  fact  that  ignorance,  like  a  shell-fish,  secretes  a  coat- 
ing of  prejudice  that  hardens  all  around  it.  If  you 
could  make  all  your  ministers  educated,  as  long  as  the 
mass  of  people  are  comparatively  uneducated,  they  would 
often  not  want  them.  So  the  two  must  ffo  too-ether. 
Moreover,  it  is  a  thing  very  easy  to  happen,  and  which 
sometimes  does  happen  with  all  our  precautions  against 
it,  that  a  certain  class  of  men  are  educated  away  from 
the  people.  It  is  not  true  of  the  highest  class  of  men. 
The  highest  class  of  men,  whatever  they  may  learn,  will 


MINISTERIAL   EDUCATION.  205 

not  forget  the  language  of  the  people,  and  will  not  fail 
to  be  able  to  bring  all  their  highest  efforts  in  reach  of 
common  minds.  But  it  is  true  of  some  men  of  very 
respectable  ability  that,  struggling  themselves  after  what 
they  call  ^'  education/'  they  get  away  from  all  sympathy 
with  the  common  mind.  They  don't  know  how  to  talk 
to  the  people.  This  happens  with  some,  not  from  lack 
of  intelligence  of  some  kinds;  it  is  from  lack  of  imagi- 
nation, from  lack  of  intellectual  sympathy  with  other 
minds,  from  lack  of  the  power  to  comprehend  the  w^ay 
that  people  in  general  look  at  things.  I  have  known 
men — very  noble  men  in  all  their  aims  and  aspirations, 
and  men  very  wise  in  some  respects — who  could  not  get 
hold  of  the  people  at  all,  because  they  didn't  know  how 
people  in  general  think  about  things,  and  couldn't  pre- 
sent things  as  the  people  have  to  see  them.  And  then 
I  suppose  it  must  be  admitted  that  sometimes  a  man 
who  is  educated  away  from  the  people  thereby  shows 
his  essential  lack  of  sense. 

Here  is  another  difficulty.  Our  ministers  can  seldom 
receive  their  boyhood  education  with  a  view  to  the  min- 
istry. They  are  usually  called  into  that  work  when 
they  have  about  reached  young  manhood;  and  if  now^ 
they  are  to  be  educated,  all  the  education  of  their  boy- 
hood must  have  been  such  as  they  have  obtained  with- 
out reference  to  the  ministry.  As  long  as  people  in 
general  have  but  little  of  education — nothing  beyond 
elementary  instruction — so  long  w^ill  most  of  the  young 
men  who  come  into  the  ministry  and  wish  to  prepare 
for  it  have,  for  their  earlier  boyhood  training,  only  what 
is  to  be  had  among  the  people  at  large.     I  speak  of  one 


206  MINISTERIAL   EDUCATION. 

of  the  most  familiar— painfully  familiar— phenomena  to 
all  who  are  called  to  instruct  young  ministers.  What  a 
common  thing  to  see  a  fine  young  man  under  this  dis- 
advantage !  You  can  see  it  in  his  eye  that  he  is  a  man. 
You  can  see  it  in  his  tones  that  he  wants  to  make  the 
best  of  himself.  You  can  see  how  he  works ;  but  there 
are  the  disadvantages  of  his  comparative  lack  of  train- 
ing in  his  boyhood,  and  how  to  overcome  them  is  the 
question.  Many  men  never  can  fully  overcome  them, 
and  they  are  humiliated  sometimes  because  they  cannot 
spell.  Only  some  people  can  spell  the  English  lan- 
guage, I  believe.  It  is  a  torture  and  an  outrage  upon 
human  nature  that  ought  not  to  be  perpetrated  many 
generations  longer,  that  people  should  be  required  to 
spell  the  English  language  as  it  now  stands.  I  say, 
then,  that  if  our  ministers  are  to  have  earlier  education 
— boyhood  education — of  a  valuable  kind,  they  must 
obtain  it  without  reference  to  the  ministry,  and  so  there 
must  be  facilities  for  this  among  the  people  at  large.  I 
wished  to  explain  how  it  is  that  ministerial  education 
ranks  itself  necessarily  with  the  general  education  of  the 
people,  and  the  experience  of  our  churches  has  shown 
the  fact.  Almost  every  institution  of  learning  that  our 
Baptist  people  in  America  have  founded  has  been 
founded  with  special  reference  to  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel;  but  then  they  have  found  that  they  must  asso- 
ciate this  with  the  education  of  others  also.  One  of  the 
wants  (jf  to-day  is  high-schools  that  shall  be  preparing 
our  half-grown  youths  for  whatever  they  are  to  do  in 
the  world,  and  then  as  many  of  them  as  are  afterwards 
adled    into   the  ministry  of  the  gospel  will   have  the 


MINISTERIAL    EDUCATION.  207 

benefit  of  these  schools  ;  high-schools — whether  they 
are  to  be  supported  by  the  public  at  large  or  founded 
by  Christian  people,  is  a  question  of  locality  and  cir- 
cumstances— high-schools  that  will  forbear  to  call  them- 
selves colleges;  that  will  not  attempt  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  functions  of  colleges ;  that  will  consent 
to  do  the  humble,  but  so  needful  work  of  giving  really 
thorough  instruction  in  the  elements  of  knowledge,  and 
if  they  must  add  some  other  things  for  those  pupils  who 
will  study  there  alone  and  will  never  go  to  college,  they 
should  still  give  to  these  mainly  the  thorough  training 
in  the  elements  of  knowledge;  high-schools  that  will 
teach  history — for  I  find  more  fault  with  my  pupils  from 
lack  of  knowledge  of  history  than  almost  anything  else ; 
for  how  can  a  man  know  anything  unless  he  knows  his- 
tory ? — high-schools  which  shall  give  thorough  training 
in  English  composition,  so  that  people  can  speak  and 
write  decently  their  own  language ;  w^hich  for  those  who 
wish  to  study  the  classic  languages,  shall  teach  the  ele- 
ments of  those  languages.  President  Wayland  used  to 
say — I  am  using  familiar  incidents  for  my  purpose — 
that  there  must  be  a  mystery  about  Greek  grammar. 
'^For,'^  he  said,  "a  boy  learns  Greek  grammar  at  the 
common  school.  Then  he  goes  to  the  academy,  and 
learns  Greek  grammar;  then  at  college  Greek  grammar 
again,  and  then  to  the  theological  seminary,  and  still  he 
must  learn  Greek  grammar.  There  must  be  something 
very  mysterious  about  Greek  grammar.''  If  there  were 
only  high-schools  in  which  the  teachers  were  willing  to 
teach  Greek  grammar  to  those  who  are  attempting  to 
learn  it,  I  know  a  certain  class  of  men  who  come  a  little 


208  MINISTERIAL    EDUCATION. 

later  on  in  our  ordinary  processes  of  education,  who 
would  have  much  occasion  to  thank  the  teachers  of  the 
high-school. 

This,  then,  is  my  first  point  of  remark,  that  ministerial 
education  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  general  education  ; 
therefore  people  who  are  specially  interested  in  the  edu- 
cation of  the  ministry  must  be  equally  interested  in  the 
education  of  the  people  ;  and  our  colleges  need  few  things 
so  much  to-day  as  the  help  of  high  schools  that  shall 
prepare  young  men  to  enter  college  with  a  due  knowl- 
edge of  the  elements  of  education. 

My  second  point  is  this — Ministerial  education  must 
not  be — cannot  be— the  same  for  all.  Let  us  not  go  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other.  There  are  differences  that  are 
felt,  and  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  them  ?  You 
have  no  power  to  coerce  your  young  men.  Some  of 
them  don't  feel  that  they  need  this ;  how  can  you  make 
them  feel  it.  There  are  wide  differences  in  circumstances. 
Some  men  are  called  into  the  gospel  ministry  compara- 
tively late  in  life,  and  we  must  not  get  away  from  that 
good  idea  of  our  fathers  that  this  is  the  right  thing.  Some 
of  the  noblest  ministers  of  the  past  have  entered  on  the 
work  of  preaching  when  they  were  of  middle  age,  but 
not  a  few  of  us  are  getting  towards  the  idea  that 
every  minister  must  go  through  a  certain  artificial  course 
of  training,  fixed  exactly,  and  have  even  thought  that 
the  idea  of  a  man's  entering  the  ministry  at  middle  age 
must  be  discarded.  Many  enter  the  ministry  somewhat 
late  in  life,  and  are  so  embarrassed  by  their  domestic  re- 
lations that,  for  an  extended  course,  they  are  without  the 
necessary  means.     Then   there  are  differences  in  men's 


MINISTERIAL   EDUCATION.  209 

natural  mental  structure  which  make  it  unwise  that  you 
should  carry  them  all  through  the  same  process  of  edu- 
cation. There  are  men  who  would  really  be  hampered 
by  an  attempt  to  make  scholars  of  them.  I  have  known 
• — far  away  from  here,  of  course — ministers  of  the  gospel 
who  really  were  worse  for  having  learned  Latin,  be- 
cause they  wasted  their  time  in  attempts  to  do  that 
which  they  never  did  do  successfully,  or  they  were  con- 
ceited w^ith  the  notion  that  they  knew  something  which 
they  really  did  not  know,  and  there  is  an  old  saying, 
which  you  must  pardon  again,  that  ^'  there's  no  fool  like 
a  fool  that  knows  Latin/' 

So,  then,  I  insist  upon  it  that  we  Baptist  people,  in 
trying  to  elevate  our  ministry,  must  not  go  from  the  ex- 
treme to  which  our  churches  once  inclined  towards  the 
other  extreme.  If  we  do,  we  shall  be  false  to  all  our 
history ;  we  shall  be  false  to  what  we  conceive  to  be  the 
teaching  of  the  gospel ;  we  shall  be  recreant  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  approaching  future.  My  brethren,  we 
must  not  have  some  artificial  notion  of  education,  and 
allow  it  to  be  converted  into  a  mechanical  process, 
which  is  always  the  tendency.  People  talk  as  if  edu- 
cating a  man  was  just  taking  liim  through  a  certain 
fixed  machine,  all  men  through  the  same  machine,  and 
coming  out  at  the  same  point  with  the  same  training. 
That  is  false  to  all  the  prodigious  variety  in  the  faculties 
and  tendencies  of  mankind.  We  must  constantly  guard 
against  the  tendency  to  make  education,  in  all  its  de- 
partments and  in  all  our  institutions,  a  mechanical  pro- 
cess, instead  of  a  process  of  gro^vth  and  the  training  of  a 
living  thing.  Every  body  who  knows  anything  about 
14 


210  MINISTERIAL   EDUCATION. 

teaching  knows  that  the  main  thing  in  all  our  early  in- 
struction is  not  knowledge,  but  discipline,  and  yet  how 
constantly  people  are  overlooking  this  !  You  ask  the 
ordinary  average  person  what  children  go  to  school  for, 
and  he  will  tell  you  that  they  go  there  to  get  a  knowl- 
edge of  certain  things.  That  is  not  the  main  thing.  The 
main  thing  is  the  discipline  of  mind,  as  every  body  who 
will  think  about  it  must  perceive.  When  a  young  man 
goes  out,  after  his  course  of  training  in  a  carpenter's  shop 
do  you  inquire  how  many  tools  he  has,  or  whether  he  has 
a  lot  of  lumber  ready  to  make  up  ?  You  inquire  whether 
he  has  learned  his  trade  and  knows  how  to  handle  tools 
and  work  the  material  that  he  will  get  as  he  needs  it. 
Tlie  analogy  is  not  perfect,  I  know,  because  in  the  train- 
ing of  the  mind  that  which  we  use  in  the  training  be- 
comes  tools  and  materials  for  the  work  of  the  future,  and 
wo  have  in  this  to  combine  the  acquisition  of  materials 
with  the  discipline  of  our  faculties  and  the  acquirement 
of  skill.  But  while  we  combine  them  we  must  beware 
of  confounding  them,  as  men  are  prone  to  do. 

Come  now  to  my  third  point — Our  iiistitutions  for 
ministerial  education,  or,  more  generally^  our  institutions 
0/  higher  education,  must  he  greatly  improved  without  de- 
lay. There  are  no  men  who  feel  that  so  much  as  the 
men  who  have  been  struggling  on  amid  a  thousand 
difficulties,  and  have  often  done  very  noble  work,  and 
brought  about,  by  God's  blessing,  quite  good  results, 
amid  all  their  disadvantages.  If  you  knew,  as  I  could 
tell  it,  of  the  sore  struggles  through  which  many  of  our 
professors  have  passed,  called  to  attempt  three  times  as 
much  in  teaching  as  one  man  can  possibly  do  to  his  own 


MINISTERIAL   EDUCATION.  211 

satisfaction,  and  yet  how,  under  all  these  burdens,  they 
have  put  forth  their  utmost  power  and  have  done  good 
work — I  think  you  would  find  it  a  theme  for  pathetic 
reflection.  Our  institutions  need  more  instructors^  in 
order  that  the  work  may  be  divided  out,  in  order  that 
each  man  may  have  the  opportunity  to  devote  himself 
to  certain  things  and  know  them  thoroughly,  and  work 
at  them  with  the  intense  delight  that  comes  to  a  man 
when  he  feels  that  he  is  making  progress  in  the  subject 
he  loves.  The  tendency  of  our  time  is  to  specializing 
knowledge,  as  every  one  knows.  I  have  a  friend,  a 
geologist,  who  gained  his  professorship  in  one  of  our 
leading  American  institutions  by  the  fact  that  he  was 
not  only  a  geologist,  but  had  confined  himself  to  the  de- 
partment of  geology  which  pertains  to  fossils  and,  among 
fossils,  to  fossil  botany.  And  so  by  working  at  fossil 
botany  he  has  gained  a  name  in  Germany  and  a  noble 
place  at  home.  This  illustrates  the  tendency  of  all 
knowledge  now.  Men  have  to  work  more  and  more 
Avithin  narrow  limits,  if  they  are  to  make  progress  in 
these  times  or  even  to  keep  up  with  the  progress  that 
others  are  making ;  and  so,  in  order  that  our  professors 
may  become  "  specialists "  in  our  colleges — the  only 
thing  that  can  be  satisfactory — we  must  have  more  pro- 
fessors. This  is  a  crying  need  of  the  present  time. 
And  they  must  have  more  time  in  order  to  be  better  pre- 
pared. If  you  expect  your  professor  in  a  college  to  meet 
classes  three  or  four  hours  a  day  like  a  school-master, 
how  can  he  lecture?  How  can  he  come  with  his  mind 
all  full  of  one  theme,  and  all  the  reserved  nerve  force  of 
his  body  and  energy  of  his  soul  gathered  up  and  coucen- 


212  MINISTERIAL   EDUCATION. 

trated  upon  one  burning  hour,  in  which  he  will  carry 
liouie  his  subject  to  the  hearts  of  those  who  hear  him, 
and  kindle  in  them  tliat  glowing  enthusiasm  which  is 
the  joy  of  a  young  man,  and  will  be  the  inspiration  of 
his  life?  Your  hard-worked  professor  may  kill  himself 
in  the  effort  to  do  that,  but  he  cannot  do  justice  to  him- 
self nor  to  his  pupils  nor  to  his  Master  nor  to  you. 

And  we  must  have  professors  who  are  better  paid,  so 
that  they  shall  have  the  means  of  commanding  comforts? 
without  intense  solicitude  about  it ;  so  that  they  shall  be 
able  to  live  fitly  in  the  better  society  of  their  community 
without  finding  it  a  burden  ;  so  that  they  may  give  their 
undivided  energies  to  their  duties. 

AVell,  you  see  the  absolute  necessity  that  follows. 
Our  institutions  must  be  better  endowed.  They  must  be 
far  more  largely  endowed.  We  must  get  hold  of  many 
of  these  people  of  ours  who  mean  right,  but  who  are  not 
informed  in  this  respect,  and  we  must  widen  out  their 
minds  like  the  broad  Mississippi  Valley,  to  see  the 
greatness  of  education,  that  they  may  give  largely.  Some 
of  our  brethren  think  that  they  have  large  notions 
already  of  what  institutions  of  learning  ought  to  be, 
but  they  have  only  begun  to  see,  and  it  is  our  duty  to 
hold  up  a  high  standard,  and  spread  out  a  broad  view  of 
what  these  institutions  must  be  made.  The  endowment 
of  institutions  of  learning  is  a  thing  needed  for  the 
sake  of  the  poor.  There  are  many  who  fancy  that  some- 
how these  colleges  and  universities  are  gotten  up  for  the 
benefit  of  the  rich  ;  but  it  is  not  so.  They  are  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor,  and  I  speak  for  the  poor.  As  for 
the  rich,  they  do  not  need  any  word  from   me.     Here, 


SriNISTERIAL    EDUCATION.  213 

for  instance,  is  a  man  who  wants  education,  and  first- 
class  education.  He  must  go  to  a  great  city  to  find  that, 
if  there  are  no  endowed  institutions.  He  could  find  that 
nowhere  but  in  a  large  city.  If  the  professors  are  to  be 
supported  by  the  tuition,  that  tuition  must  be  very  high, 
and  if  the  student  is  to  have  three  or  four  teachers  of 
eminent  talents,  he  will  have  to  pay  three  or  four  hun- 
dred dollars  in  tuition.  The  son  of  a  rich  man  can  do 
that,  but  what  is  to  become  of  the  son  of  a  poor  man  ? 
The  institutions  of  learning  come  in  to  open  their  halls 
free  of  rent.  The  chief  support  of  those  professors  will 
be  from  the  endowment,  and  the  man  who  is  compara- 
tively poor  can  thus  obtain  the  benefit  of  contact  with 
master  minds,  and  instruction  from  men  of  high  talents, 
which  would  otherwise  be  for  him  absolutely  impossible. 
It  is  for  the  poor,  I  say,  that  our  institutions  are  en- 
dowed. When  you  go  to  a  rich  man  say,  "  Do  your  duty 
as  one  whom  God  has  blessed  with  riches,  and  endow  an 
institution  for  the  sake  of  the  poor  all  around  you/'  and 
you  may  add,  ^'  Maybe  your  own  son,  that  goes  there 
from  the  home  of  his  wealth  and  with  all  the  benefits 
around  him  of  ample  means,  will  learn  to  study  from 
some  of  those  poor  young  fellows,  his  associates,  who 
make  him  work  by  showing  him  what  it  is  for  a  man 
to  work."  Last  February  I  was  a  great  deal  in  contact 
for  some  weeks  with  eminent  men  of  business,  and  there 
came  to  me  this  thought  about  our  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, which  you  may  have  for  what  it  is  worth.  When 
we  go  to  a  man  of  means  and  ask  him  to  give  largely  for 
the  endowment  of  an  institution  of  learning,  we  are  not 
begging.     I  protest  I  am  no  beggar.     When  I  go  to  a 


214  MINISTERIAL   EDUCATION. 

rich  man  and  say,  ^'  Come  help  us,  won't  you,  in  this  en- 
terprise," I  present  to  him  a  joint-stock  concern,  a  very 
popular  idea  now-a-days,  an  investment  which  will  yield 
him  large  dividends,  and  which  will  last  a  long  time.  I 
say,  "Here  are  our  men  who  have  given  their  whole 
lives  to  the  work  of  instruction.  They  have  toiled  early 
and  late  through  long  years  to  qualify  themselves  for 
teaching  certain  things,  and  they  are  willing  to  put  their 
lives  into  this — not  simply  a  little  of  wdiat  they  are,  but 
all  of  what  they  are  they  will  put  into  it,  and  the  very 
fortunes  of  their  families.  Now,  if  you  will  put  some 
money  into  it,  then  you  and  they  will  be  in  a  joint-stock 
company,  and  you  will  be  doing  together  what  you  cannot 
do  without  them,  and  what  they  cannot  do  without  you, 
but  together  you  will  be  doing  a  work  that  will  bless 
humanity.  They  are  no  more  dependent  on  you  than 
you  are  on  them,  but  you  will  be  brothers  united  in 
a  common  work  and  receiving  results  in  common."  I 
tliink  that  is  the  right  view  of  the  matter,  and  that 
there  are  great-hearted  men  of  wealth  who  w^ould  rejoice 
in  the  idea  that  they  were  investing  in  that  which  would 
yield  large  dividends  to  them  and  the  world  and  which 
would  last  through  long  ages.  For  there  are  no  invest- 
ments in  the  civilized  world  so  permanent  as  invest- 
ments in  institutions  of  education  and  relig-ion.  The  old 
universities  of  Italy  and  of  France  and  of  England  have 
lived  eight  or  nine  centuries — have  lived  through  all 
changes,  through  all  revolutions  of  governments,  through 
all  upheavals  of  society,  and  there  they  are  to-day.  No 
revolutionist  has  ever  dared  to  attack  them.  No  new 
government  has  ever  done  aught  but  wish  them  well^ 


MINISTERIAL    EDUCATION.  215 

and  perchance  help  tliem  on.  A  man  who  wants  to  put 
money  which  God  has  enabled  him  to  gather  where  it 
will  last  when  he  is  gone,  doing  the  work  that  he  has 
chosen  for  it  in  the  long  centuries  to  come,  must  choose 
a  mode  of  investment  in  some  institution  of  education  or 
religion ;  and  if  it  be  combined,  an  institution  of  educa- 
tion and  of  religion,  of  course  all  the  better. 

Now,  my  brethren — ministers  and  laymen,  men  and 
women — we  must  take  hold  of  such  thoughts  as  these, 
which  would  come  to  any  of  us  upon  reflection,  and  go 
among  our  people  and  stir  their  souls  with  the  thought 
of  the  opportunity  there  is  for  them,  the  many  to  give  a 
little,  but  especially  the  few  to  give  much,  for  it  is  only 
from  the  large  gifts  of  the  few  that  institutions  of  edu- 
cation have  received  ample  endowment ;  to  stir  their  souls 
to  see  what  God  gives  them  opportunity  to  do,  and  what 
God's  high  providence  sends  down,  like  the  sunbeams 
out  of  heaven,  for  a  direction  to  them.  Not  all  rich 
■people  are  selfish  or  mean  ;  not  many  rich  people  are 
narrow-minded  or  ignorant ;  but  they  are  busy — busy 
with  •  their  own  affairs,  burdened  with  their  own  great 
burdens — and  somebody  must  go  and  tell  them  of  these 
openings  for  investing  money,  better  than  they  can  in- 
vest it  anywhere  else  in  all  this  world,  for  the  highest 
good  of  man  and  for  the  highest  glory  of  Christ, 


XIY. 

THE   AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774  * 

THERE  are  few  things  so  advantageous,  in  the  de- 
tailed study  of  history,  as  to  establish  ourselves  at 
some  definite  point  of  the  past,  and  look  carefully 
around,  until  all  that  lies  within  the  horizon  of  that  time 
is  thoroughly  known.  The  period  just  named  for  this 
purpose  is  of  peculiar  interest  to  American  citizens,  as 
lying  at  the  threshold  of  American  independence,  and 
also  to  Baptists,  for  then  our  brethren  were  just  drawing 
near  the  end  of  their  struggles  and  sufferings,  and  pre- 
paring the  way  for  more  joyous  and  prosperous  work  in 
a  new  and  blessed  day  of  freedom.  The  limits  of  a  lec- 
ture will  of  course  not  allow  any  general  study  of  that 
grand  epoch.  Even  confining  ourselves  to  the  one  theme 
of  the  Baptist  ministry  at  that  time,  we  shall  be  able 
only  to  glance  rapidly  along  the  outlines  of  this  single 
department  in  the  wide  field  of  view. 

It  requires  a  great  effort  of  imagination  to  go  back  one 
hundred  years.  In  1774  there  was  nothing  of  our 
present  magnificent  country  but  the  thirteen  colonies 
along  the  Atlantic  coast,  from  New  Hampshire  to  Geor- 
gia. In  many  of  these,  as  we  look  back,  w^e  see  that 
only  the  eastern  part  of  the  territory  is  settled,  even  in 

•Public  lecture  in  opening  the  session  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
Theological  Seminary,  then  at  Greenville,  S.  C,  September  1,  1874. 

216 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     217 

Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  hardly  one-half,  and  in  New 
York  and  Georgia,  only  the  southeastern  corner.  The  first 
feeble  settlements  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  are  but  a 
few  years  old.  There  has  been  in  the  colonies  great  po- 
litical discontent  for  some  fourteen  years,  particularly 
manifested  in  Massachusetts  and  Virginia,  which  has 
grown  into  a  widespread  opposition  to  the  home  govern- 
ment. The  "  Boston  tea  party  "  occurred  last  winter, 
December,  1773.  The  first  Continental  Congress  is  to 
meet  in  Philadelphia  three  days  hence,  September  4, 
1774.  The  colonists  intend  to  maintain  their  rights  by 
force  if  necessary ;  but  very  few  are  as  yet  looking  for- 
ward to  independence.  The  Virginians  have  been  en- 
gaged all  summer  in  a  great  Indian  war,  which  will  end 
a  few  weeks  hence  with  the  "  bloodiest  and  most  deci- 
sive '^  of  all  the  Indian  battles  at  the  mouth  of  Kanawha. 
Let  us  now  survey  the  leading  Baptist  ministers  of  the 
several  groups  of  colonies.  Many  able  and  useful  men 
have  long  ere  this  passed  away.  In  the  previous  cen- 
tury Hansard  Knollys  and  Roger  Williams  were  Bap- 
tist preachers  in  New  England  within  less  than  twenty 
years  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  John  Clark 
founded  the  church  at  Newport  in  1644,  only  twenty- 
four  years  after  the  landing.  Still  others  were  coming 
over  from  England  and  AYales,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century  there  were  seventeen  American  Bap- 
tist churches  in  existence,  situated  chiefly  in  Rhode  Is- 
land and  Massachusetts,  but  several  of  them  in  Penusyl- 
vania  and  New  Jersey,  and  one  in  Charleston,  S.  C. 
Passing  to  the  eighteenth  century,  we  find  that  Elisha 
Callender,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College  and  a  pastor 


218     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

beloved  by  all  denominations  in  Boston,  died  in  1738, 
-svhich  is  thirty-six  years  ago.  A  few  years  afterwards 
died  Valentine  Wightman,  a  man  of  marked  ability  and 
extensive  attainments,  who  founded  many  churches  in 
Connecticut.  And  still  earlier  in  the  century  was  Abel 
Morgan,  who  came  over  from  Wales  to  Philadelphia  in 
1711,  and  was  greatly  respected  for  his  ministerial 
knowledge,  zeal  and  usefidness,  until  his  death  in  1722. 
These  three^Morgan,  Callender  and  Wightman — are  all 
that  we  have  time  to  glance  at  of  the  departed  worthies, 
though  various  other  good  ministers  of  the  time  are 
known  to  history. 

Coming  to  those  who  are  still  alive  in  1774,  w^e  must 
look  first  at  leading  ministers  who  are  by  this  time 
growing  old,  or  already  widely  known — those  who  belong 
mainly  or  largely  to  the  past. 

A  number  of  these  are  found  in  New  England.  Timo- 
thy Wightman  succeeded  his  father,  Valentine  Wight- 
man,  in  Groton,  Conn.,  and  though  a  man  of  less  power 
than  his  father,  has  been  very  devout  and  useful,  and 
has  brought  his  church  into  a  very  healthy  condition, 
with  repeated  revivals.  He  is  now^  fifty-five  years  old, 
and  is  greatly  beloved  and  full  of  pastoral  work.  Gardi- 
ner Thurston,  of  Rhode  Island,  is  a  little  younger,  and 
has  spent  all  his  life  at  Newport.  He  was  not  educated 
at  college,  but  has  always  had  a  great  thirst  for  knowl- 
edge, and  been  very  diligent  both  in  general  and  in  theo- 
logical studies.  At  first  assistant  to  an  aged  pastor  for 
eleven  years,  and  giving  part  of  his  time  to  business  for 
a  support,  he  afterward  succeeded  him  and  has  for  fifteen 
years  been  full  pastor  and  entirely  supported  by  the  church. 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     219 

He  is  a  charming  man  in  private  intercourse,  and  in 
preaching  is  not  only  interesting  and  instructive,  but 
pathetic  and  solemn,  and  plainly  depends  much  on  the 
special  support  and  blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In 
Massachusetts  is  the  famous  Isaac  Backus,  now  fifty 
years  old,  and  in  the  fulness  of  his  powers.  Reared  a 
Congregationalist  in  Connecticut,  and  converted  during 
the  '^  Great  Awakening,''  produced  by  the  preaching  of 
Whitefield  and  others,  he  presently  went  oif  with  tlTe 
Separatists  or  New  Light  Congregationalists,  who  con- 
tended for  a  converted  membership  and  strict  discipline, 
and  for  an  internal  call  to  the  ministry.  After  preach- 
ing some  years  in  this  connection  he  became  a  Baptist, 
and  at  length  pastor  of  a  new  Baptist  church  in  Middle- 
borough,  Mass.,  in  which  position  he  has  now  remained 
for  eighteen  years.  Two  years  ago  he  was  chosen  agent 
for  the  Baptist  churches  in  Massachusetts,  to  labor  for  se- 
curing religious  liberty,  and  has  done  the  work  with 
great  zeal  and  ability,  corresponding  with  the  English 
Baptists  on  the  subject,  and  also  corresponding  with  the 
patriotic  Samuel  Adams,  as  the  Virginia  Baptists  are 
doing  with.  Jefferson  and  Madison.  He  will  shortly  be 
in  like  manner  appointed  agent  to  attend  the  Continental 
Congress,  which  is  about  to  meet  in  Philadelphia.  Mr. 
Backus  has  already  published  several  sermons  and  a 
number  of  pamphlets  on  questions  of  Scripture  doctrine 
or  of  religious  liberty.  And  he  has  been  busily  collect- 
ing materials  for  a  history  of  the  Baptists  in  New  Eng- 
land, the  first  volume  of  which  will  be  ready  in  two  or 
three  years.  Very  diligent  and  painstaking  in  the  col- 
lection of  materials  and  laborious  in  general,  his  writings 


220     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D=  1774. 

are  full  of  reliable  information  and  vigorous  argument, 
though  somewhat  deficient  in  literary  finish.  He  is  a 
man  of  powerful  physique,  strengthened  by  early  work 
on  a  farm  and  by  much  travelling  on  horseback.  His 
commanding  appearance,  deep-toned  voice,  grave  argu- 
mentative style,  earnest  and  masterful  nature  and  fervent 
piety  make  him,  though  not  exactly  an  attractive,  yet  a 
highly  impressive  preacher.  And,  altogether,  he  is  at 
this  time  probably  the  most  influential  Baptist  minister 
in  New  England.  Fifteen  years  later  he  will  spend  six 
months  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  strengthening 
the  churches.  While  passing  over  various  others,  w^e 
must  not  fail  to  notice  Noah  Alden,  of  Massachusetts, 
now  forty-nine  years  old,  who  was  originally  a  Congre- 
gationalist,  but  has  been  for  nineteen  years  a  Baptist 
minister,  greatly  respected  for  his  wisdom  in  regard  to 
politics  as  well  as  religion,  and  very  useful  in  his  pastor- 
al work. 

These  are  the  older  men  among  the  leading  Baptist 
ministers  of  New  England  at  the  time  of  which  we 
speak,  Wightman,  Thurston,  Backus,  Alden.  Several 
others  are  younger,  though  already  w^ell  known  and  in- 
fluential. Foremost  among  them  are  Manning  and 
Stillman. 

James  Manning  was  born  in  New  Jersey  thirty-six 
years  ago,  attended  the  famous  Baptist  School  at  Hope- 
well, N.  J.,  conducted  by  Rev.  Isaac  Eaton  especially 
"  for  the  education  of  youth  for  the  ministry,"  and 
graduated  with  the  highest  honors  at  Princeton  College. 
He  speedily  grew  very  popular  as  a  preacher,  and  before 
long  became  pastor  at  Warren,  Rhode  Igknd.     Here  h^ 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     221 

was  the  most  active  person  in  founding,  just  ten  years 
ago,  Rhode  Island  College,  which  in  a  few  years  was  re- 
moved to  Providence,  and  is  destined  at  a  later  period 
to  be  known  as  Brown  University.  Of  this  first  Bap- 
tist College  in  America  Mr.  Manning  was  made  Presi- 
dent and  Professor  of  Languages,  and  he  and  the  college 
have  already  gained  a  warm  place  in  the  affections  of 
the  people  of  Providence  and  of  the  Baptists  of  all  the 
colonies. 

Samuel  Stillman,  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  was 
brought  by  his  parents  to  Charleston,  S.  C,  when  eleven 
years  old,  and  converted  under  the  ministry  of  Rev. 
Oliver  Hart,  of  whom  we  shall  hereafter  speak.  He 
received  a  classical  education  from  Mr.  Rind,  ^'  a  teacher 
of  some  celebrity  "  in  Charleston,  and  then  spent  a  year 
in  studying  theology  with  the  assistance  of  his  pastor, 
Mr.  Hart.  He  began  to  preach  in  Charleston  sixteen 
years  ago,  and  settled  first  on  James  Island ;  but  his 
lungs  becoming  diseased,  he  went  to  New  Jersey  as  a 
better  climate.  After  preaching  there  two  years  he  vis- 
ited Boston,  where  he  was  at  first  assistant  in  the  Second 
Church,  and  soon  afterwards,  nine  years  ago,  was  made 
pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church.  Here  he  rapidly 
sprang  into  great  popularity  and  influence.  His  preach- 
ing is  attended  for  the  sake  of  its  eloquence  by  men 
having  little  sympathy  with  his  thoroughly  evangelical 
doctrines,  including  prominent  lawyers  and  politicians. 
Highly  cultivated  and  careful  in  preparation,  he  yet 
often  indulges  in  "  sudden  bursts  "  of  unpremeditated, 
impassioned  eloquence,  and  constantly  makes  free  use  of 
anecdote  and  other  illustration.     His  religious  visits  are 


222     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

valued  and  solicited  by  persons  of  all  denominations. 
He  is  also  taking  an  active  part  in  the  support  and 
management  of  Rhode  Island .  College,  and  in  all  the 
work  of  the  Baptists  of  New  England,  and  has  already 
published  quite  a  number  of  excellent  sermons.  He  is 
now  thirty-seven  years  old.  Universally  admired  and 
beloved,  full  of  ministerial  work  in  public  and  in  pri- 
vate, in  his  own  church  and  elsewhere,  deeply  devout 
and  richly  blessed,  we  shall  find  in  all  this  survey  no 
Baptist  pastorate  so  truly  brilliant  as  that  of  Samuel 
Stillman  in  Boston.  Indeed,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
age  in  question  presents  a  more  popular  preacher  of  any 
denomination  in  America. 

Hezekiah  Smith,  by  birth  a  New  Yorker,  was  edu- 
cated, like  Manning,  at  Hopewell  School  and  Princeton 
College.  After  graduating,  he  traveled  South  for  his 
health,  and  was  ordained  in  Charleston,  S.  C.  After 
preaching  a  while  in  the  Pedee  country,  with  great  ac- 
ceptance, he  returned  northward,  went  to  New  England, 
and  finally  built  up  a  new  and  strong  Baptist  Church  at 
Haverhill,  Mass.,  of  which  for  the  last  eight  or  nine 
years  he  has  been  the  beloved  pastor.  He  has  also  made 
numerous  preaching  tours  as  far  north  as  Maine,  and  his 
dignified,  solemn,  truly  eloquent  preaching  everywhere 
makes  a  great  impression.  He  maintains  an  affectionate 
correspondence  with  Oliver  Hart  and  other  brethren  in 
South  Carolina.  He  is  now  thirty-seven  years  old, 
about  tlie  same  age  as  Manning  and  Stillman. 

There  is  little  time  to  speak  of  Samuel  Shepard,  who 
was  a  young  Congregational ist  physician  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, but  was  converted  to  Baptist  views  by  reading  a 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.   1774.     223 

tract  found  at  the  house  of  one  of  his  patients  ;  and 
soon  beginning  to  preach,  founded  three  new  churches 
in  New  Hampsliire,  and  three  years  ago  became  their 
pastor.  Nor  of  John  Davis,  the  younger  of  that  name, 
a  native  of  Delaware,  prepared  at  Hopewell  School,  and 
graduated  at  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  after  some 
years  made  pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Bos- 
ton— a  man  remarkable  for  learning,  abilities  and  -use- 
fulness, cut  down  by  death  two  years  ago,  when  but 
thirty-five  years  old. 

Leaving  New  England,  we  come  to  the  Middle  Colo- 
nies. Of  the  older  men  who  are  still  living  three  or 
four  must  be  mentioned. 

Ebenezer  Kinnersley,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  and 
brought  to  this  country  in  childhood  by  his  father  (him- 
self also  a  Baptist  minister),  is  now  sixty-seven  years 
old,  and  has  spent  his  life  in  and  about  Philadelphia. 
Never  engaging  much  in  preaching,  he  has  been  other- 
wise a  very  distinguished  man,  both  as  a  zealous  co- 
worker with  Franklin  in  discovering  the  properties  of 
what  they  call  the  Electric  Fire,  and  as  the  highly  pop- 
ular professor  of  English  and  Oratory  in  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania.  He  has  delivered  scientific  lectures  in 
the  chief  cities,  which  attracted  great  attention.  In 
1772,  two  years  ago,  he  resigned  his  chair  in  the  college, 
and  retired  to  the  country  in  feeble  health.  Abel  INIor- 
gan,  Jr.,  nephew  to  the  older  minister  of  that  name, 
w^hom  we  mentioned,  was  born  in  a  Welsh  settlement  in 
Delaware.  After  his  ordination  he  came  with  a  com- 
pany of  Baptists  to  South  Carolina,  and  ^'  was  a  constit- 
uent member  of  a  church  called  Welsh  Neck,  in  1738.'* 


224     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

Returning,  he  became  pastor  in  INIiddletown,  New  Jer- 
sey, and  has  now  been  there  for  thirtj-five  years.  Ho 
never  married,  giving  as  a  reason  the  Avish  that  "  none  of 
his  attention  and  attendance  might  be  taken  off  ^'  from 
his  mother,  who  lived  with  him  more  than  thirty  years, 
and  died  only  three  years  ago.  His  learning  is  really 
extensive,  and  he  is  especially  skillful  in  disputation. 
Years  ago  he  had  a  public  debate  on  Infant  Baptism 
with  Rev.  Samuel  Finley,  afterwards  President  of 
Princeton  College.  It  was  Mr.  Finley  that  proposed 
the  discussion,  and  as  he  afterwards  printed  a  pamphlet, 
Mr.  Morgan  replied,  and  each  of  them  replied  again. 
These  were  probably  the  first  works  issued  in  the  New 
World  in  vindication  of  the  baptism  of  believers  only, 
and  they  are  said  to  show  decided  ability  and  good  learn- 
ing. Though  now  sixty-one  years  old,  Mr.  Morgan  is 
still  a  very  laborious  and  useful  minister.  John  Gano, 
born  in  New  Jersey  forty-seven  years  ago  of  a  Hugue- 
not family,  after  determining  to  preach,  spent  two  or 
three  years  in  studies  preparatory  to  that  work,  mean- 
time frequently  preaching,  even  before  he  was  licensed. 
In  response  to  earnest  requests  from  the  South  for  min- 
isterial help  he  was  induced,  twenty  years  ago,  to  come 
southward,  and  traveled  extensively.  In  Charleston  he 
preached  in  Mr.  Hart's  pulpit  in  the  presence  of  a  bril- 
liant audience,  including  twelve  ministers,  one  of  them 
being  George  AVhitefield,  and  for  a  moment  (as  he  has 
recorded)  felt  the  fear  of  man,  but  soon  remembered  that 
he  'Miad  none  to  fear  and  obey  but  the  Lord.''  Two 
years  later  he  made  another  tour  to  the  South,  and  set- 
tled for  two  years  in  North  Carolina,  but  being  driven 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1  774.     225 

out  by  the  Cherokee  Indians,  returned  North,  and  for  a 
while  preached  alternately  in  Philadelphia  and  New 
York.  Twelve  years  ago  a  church  was  at  last  organ- 
ized in  New  York,  and  Mr.  Gano  became  its  pastor,  in 
which  position  his  labors  have  been  greatly  blessed.  A 
small  man,  yet  of  manly  presence  and  commanding 
voice,  of  good  mind,  respectable  attainments  and  deep 
feeling,  he  is  a  highly  popular  and  effective  preacher. 

It  is  worth  while  to  notice  how  late  the  Baptists  were 
in  establishing  themselves  in  New  York  City.  They  or- 
ganized a  church  in  Boston  in  1664 ;  in  Charleston,  S.  C, 
1683  ;  in  Philadelphia,  1698  ;  in  New  York  no  perma- 
nent church  was  formed  till  1762.* 

Somewhat  older  than  Gano  is  Morgan  Edwards,  a 
native  of  Wales,  a  preacher  from  his  sixteenth  year, 
and  educated  in  the  Baptist  Seminary  at  Bristol,  Eng- 
land. After  preaching  a  number  of  years  in  England 
and  Ireland,  he  was  sent  to  America  thirteen  years  ago 
by  the  famous  Dr.  Gill,  in  response  to  a  request  from 
the  Baptist  Church  at  Philadelphia  that  he  would  send 
them  a  pastor.  The  story  is  that  in  writing  to  Dr.  Gill 
the  church  "  required  so  many  accomplishments  '^  in  a 
pastor,  that  the  old  gentleman  told  them  he  did  not 
know  that  he  "could  find  a  man  in  England  who  would 
answer  their  description,''  but  that  Mr.  Morgan  Ed- 
wards "came  the  nearest  of  any  that  could  be  obtained." 
After  remaining  eleven  years  in  Philadelphia,  he  re- 
moved, two  years  since,  to   Newark,  N.  J.     Mr.  Ed- 

*  There  was  preaching  in  New  York  as  early  as  1669,  and  a  little 
church  appears  to  hare  been  formed  there  by  Valentine  Wightmfin 
about  1714,  but  it  was  afterwards  dissolved. 

15 


226     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

wards  is  a  man  of  genius  and  scholarship.  His  Greek 
Testament  is  "  his  favorite  companion,"  and  he  has  also 
a  good  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  being  accus- 
tomed to  say  that  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  are  "  the  two 
eyes  of  a  minister,"  while  liis  extensive  travels  and  wide 
general  reading  have  contributed  to  make  him  a  very 
interesting  man,  both  in  public  and  private.  He  has 
thus  far  published  three  sermons  and  a  History  of  the 
Baptists  in  Pennsylvania,  besides  collecting  much  mate- 
rial for  other  works ;  and  he  is  very  careful  and  critical 
in  respect  to  English  style. 

Besides  these  four  older  men  in  the  Middle  Colonies 
— Kinnersley,  Morgan,  Gano  and  Edwards — we  must 
notice  two  who  are  somewhat  younger,  but  prominent 
and  promising — both  of  them  named  Jones. 

Samuel  Jones  is  a  native  of  Wales,  but  was  brought 
to  this  country  in  infancy.  His  father,  himself  a  pas- 
tor in  Pennsylvania,  and  a  man  of  wealth,  was  deter- 
mined to  give  his  son  a  thorough  education,  and 
accordingly  Samuel  was  graduated  A.M.  of  the  College 
of  Philadelphia  in  1762.  For  the  last  eleven  years  he 
has  been  pastor  of  a  church  near  Philadelphia,  and  also 
occupied  in  teaching,  being  very  successful  and  highly 
honored  in  both  vocations.  By  his  excellent  judgment 
and  remarkable  self-control  he  is  particularly  useful  in 
meetings  of  the  Philadelphia  Association,  and  other  ec- 
clesiastical assemblies.  Tliis  is  noteworthy,  for  success- 
ful preachers  much  oftener  possess  fervor  and  fire  than 
sound  judgment  and  equanimity.  David  Jones  was 
born  and  reared  in  Delaware,  and  educated  at  Mr. 
Eaton's  Hopewell  School  in  New  Jersey,  where  he  says 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     227 

he  "learned  Latin  and  Greek."  Having  determined  to 
become  a  minister,  he  went,  thirteen  years  ago,  to  Mid- 
dletown  to  study  divinity  with  his  kinsman,  Abel  Mor- 
gan. For  the  last  eight  years  he  has  been  pastor  in 
Monmouth  County,  N.  J.,  but  two  or  three  years  ago 
made  three  different  journeys  to  the  distant  country 
about  and  beyond  the  Ohio  River,  preaching  to  the  In- 
dians, though  without  much  effect.  At  the  time  of 
which  w^e  speak  he  is  full  of  zeal  for  the  political  rights 
of  the  Colonies,  as  are  the  Baptist  preachers  everywhere, 
with  rare  exceptions.  Some  years  ago  he  made  a  visit 
to  New  York  City,  and  had  an  amusing  experience 
which  may  help  to  show  how  scarce  were  our  brethren 
in  that  place : 

When  I  first  came  to  New  York  [so  he  is  said  to  have  told 
the  story]  I  landed  in  the  morning,  and  thought  I  would  try 
if  I  could  find  any  Baptists.  I  wandered  up  and  down,  look- 
ing at  the  place  and  the  people,  and  wondering  who  of  all  the 
people  I  met  might  be  Baptists.  At  length  I  saw  an  old  man, 
with  a  red  cap  on  his  head,  sitting  on  the  porch  of  a  respecta- 
ble-looking house.  Ah,  thought  I,  now  this  is  one  of  the  old 
residents,  who  knows  all  about  the  city;  this  is  the  man  to 
inquire  of.  I  approached  him,  and  said :  "  Good  afternoon, 
sir.  Can  you  tell  me  v/here  any  Baptists  live  in  this  city?" 
"Hey?"  said  the  deaf  old  Gothamite,  with  his  hand  to  his  ear. 
Raising  my  voice,  I  shouted:  "Can  you  tell  me,  sir,  where  I 
can  find  any  Baptists  in  this  place?"  "Baptists,  Baptists," 
said  the  old  man  musing,  as  if  ransacking  all  the  corners  of 
his  memory ;  "  Baptists !  I  really  don't  know  as  I  ever  heard 
of  anybody  of  that  occupation  in  these  parts!" 

We  now  leave  the  Middle  Colonies,  and  come  to 
speak  of  some  leading  ministers  in  the  Southern  Colo- 
nies, from  Maryland  to  Georgia. 


228     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A. P.  1774. 

In  Charleston,  S.  C,  we  find,  as  already  several  times 
mentioned,  Oliver  Hart,  who  is  now  fifty-one  years  of 
age.  He  was  born  and  reared  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
when  a  young  man  often  listened  Avith  great  profit  to 
Whitefield.  Ordained  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  he  heard 
*^  the  loud  call  for  ministers  in  the  Southern  Colonies," 
and  coming  South,  found  the  church  at  Charleston  va- 
cant, and  becoming  their  pastor  twenty-four  years  ago, 
has,  in  that  position,  been  highly  respected  and  widely 
useful.  He  takes  an  active  part  as  a  citizen  in  the 
movements  for  the  maintenance  of  colonial  rights  and 
liberties,  but  does  not  "  mix  politics  with  the  gospel, 
nor  desert  the  duties  of  his  station  to  pursue  them." 
AVe  are  to  think  of  him  as  a  man  of  tall  and  graceful 
figure,  with  a  pleasing  countenance  and  voice,  and  while 
not  exactly  eloquent,  yet  an  exceedingly  instructive  and 
impressive  preacher.  Though  not  bred  in  college,  he 
has  been  a  diligent  student  of  the  classics  and  of  physi- 
cal science,  and  has  been  the  instructor  in  general  learn- 
ing and  in  theology  of  several  other  ministers,  among 
them  Samuel  Stillman.  Of  these,  Stillman  and  some 
others  were  furnished  with  the  means  of  support  by  the 
"Religious  Society"  which  Mr.  Hart  organized  in 
Charleston  nineteen  years  ago  (1755)  for  this  purpose. 

Shubael  Stearns  and  Daniel  Marshall  were  intimately 
associated  in  North  Carolina,  and  are  naturally  spoken 
of  together,  though  the  former  died  three  years  ago. 
Shubael  Stearns  was  born  in  Boston  in  1706,  and  under 
the  influence  of  the  Great  Awakening,  attached  himself, 
in  1745,  to  the  Congregationalist  Separates,  or  New 
Lights,  and  began  to  preach.     In  1751   he  became  a 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.   1774.     229 

Baptist,  in  Connecticut,  and  after  two  or  three  years 
more,  longing  to  carry  the  gospel  to  more  destitute  re- 
gions, he  came,  with  a  small  colony  of  brethren,  to 
Berkeley  County,  Ya.  Here  he  was  joined  by  Daniel 
Marshall,  who  was  of  the  same  age  with  him,  and  had 
also  been  a  Congregationalist  and  a  Separate  in  Con- 
necticut. Believing  that  the  second  coming  of  Christ 
was  certainly  at  hand,  Marshall  and  others  sold  or 
abandoned  tlieir  property,  and  hastening  with  destitute 
families  to  the  head- waters  of  the  Susquehanna,  began 
to  labor  fur  the  conversion  of  the  ^loliawk  Indians. 
After  eighteen  months  he  was  driven  away  by  an  In- 
dian war,  and  went  to  Berkeley  Co.,  Va.,  where,  find- 
ing a  Baptist  Church,  he  examined  and  adopted  their 
views  about  1754.  He  had  married,  while  in  Connect- 
icut, the  sister  of  Shubael  Stearns,  and  the  two  became 
associated  in  Virginia,  and  soon  sought  together  a  still 
more  destitute  region  in  North  Carolina,  not  far  from 
Greensboro.  Here  they  and  their  little  colony  taught 
the  necessity  of  the  new  birth  and  the  consciousness  of 
conversion,  with  all  the  excited  manner  and  holy  whine, 
and  the  nervous  trembling  and  wild  screams  among 
their  hearers,  which  characterized  the  Congregationalist 
Separates  in  Connecticut.  Though  at  first  much  ridi- 
culed, they  soon  had  great  success,  building  up  two 
churches  of  five  hundred  and  six  hundred  members. 
Retaining  their  Xew  England  name  of  Separates,  they 
called  themselves  '^  Separate  Baptists,'^  and  these  spread 
rapidly  into  Virginia  and  into  Georgia,  though  destined, 
when  their  enthusiastic  excesses  should  have  been  cooled 
down,  to  be  absorbed,  before  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 


230     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

century,  into  the  body  of  regular  Baptists.  Stearns 
died  in  North  CaroHna;  but  Marshall,  ever  looking 
out  for  new  fields,  came,  after  a  few  years,  to  Lexing- 
ton District,  in  South  Carolina,  where  he  built  up  a 
church,  and  finally,  three  years  before  the  time  of  which 
we  speak,  removed  to  Georgia,  not  far  from  Augusta, 
where  he  has  already  formed  a  considerable  church. 
Among  the  unusual  customs  of  the  Separates,  both  Con- 
gregational ist  and  Baptist,  was  the  practice  of  public 
prayer  and  exhortation  by  women ;  and  in  these  exer- 
cises Marshall's  wife  is  said  to  have  been  wonderfully 
impressive. 

In  one  of  his  preaching  tours,  from  North  Carolina 
back  into  Southern  Virginia,  sixteen  years  ago,  Daniel 
]\Iarshall  baptized  Colonel  Samuel  Harriss,  of  Pittsyl- 
vania. This  gentleman  had  a  good  social  position,  hold- 
ing numerous  civil  and  ecclesiastical  offices,  and  posses- 
sing some  wealth.  He  at  once  threw  himself  earnestly, 
with  serious  pecuniary  sacrifices,  into  the  work  of 
preaching,  and  in  the  course  of  these  sixteen  years  has 
made  preaching  journeys  through  a  great  part  of  Vir- 
ginia as  well  as  portions  of  North  Carolina.  His 
overwhelming  earnestness  and  wonderful  pathos  pro- 
duced so  great  an  effect  that  highly  judicious  men 
declared  that  even  Whitefield  did  not  surpass  him  in 
addressing  the  heart.  He  has  also  taken  an  active  part 
in  Baptist  efforts  to  secure  religious  freedom,  none  the 
less  that  he  himself  has  been  shamefully  persecuted  for 
preacln'ng  in  Culpeper  and  Orange.  He  is  a  favorite 
presiding  officer  in  the  associations  and  other  business 
meetings  of  the  Separate  Baptists,  and  in  this  very  year. 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     231 

1774,  these  enthusiasts  having  concluded  that  the  office 
of  apostle  ought  to  be  perpetual,  Samuel  Harriss  and 
two  others  have  been  elected  and  solemnly  set  apart  as 
apostles,  an  office  which  will  be  silently  abandoned  by 
all  concerned  the  following  year.  Such  a  transient  no- 
tion is  but  a  spot  on  the  sun  of  his  noble  Christian 
character  and  life.     He  is  now  fifty  years  old. 

There  are  other  well-known  men  in  Virginia  at  tlie 
time  in  question  of  whom  it  would  be  pleasant  to  speak, 
such  as  David  Thomas,  forty-two  years  old,  a  Pennsyl- 
vanian,  educated  at  Hopewell  School,  and  removing 
when  still  young  to  Virginia,  where  he  has  been  very 
useful ;  but  we  must  pass  them  by,  as  we  have  passed  by 
many  good  men  in  other  colonies.  In  Maryland  we  find 
John  Davis,  the  older  of  that  name,  fifty-three  years 
old,  another  Pennsylvanian,  who  removed  eighteen  years 
ago  to  Maryland,  and  has  built  up  a  strong  country 
church.  There  is  as  yet  no  Baptist  Church  in  Balti- 
more. 

It  must  have  been  noticed  that  with  the  single  excep- 
tion of  Samuel  Harriss,  all  the  older  ministers  we  have 
mentioned  as  particularly  distinguished  in  the  Southern 
colonies  came  originally  from  the  North.  When  the 
early  Baptist  settlers  came  over  from  England  and 
Wales,  the  English  went  chiefly,  for  reasons  not  hard  to 
discern,  to  New  England,  and  the  A^^elsh  chiefly  to 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey  and  Delaware.  Next  to  these 
the  colony  to  which  Baptists  earliest  came  in  considera- 
ble number  was  South  Carolina,  and  here  the  number 
was  small  compared  with  New  England  and  the  Middle 
Colonies.      Thus  the  Baptists  were  at  first    far  more 


232     AMKPJCAX  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

numerous  at  the  North  than  at  the  South,  and  naturally 
produced  a  larger  number  of  ministers.  Besides,  there 
were  already  more  general  opportunities  for  education  in 
the  Northern  Colonies,  so  that  ministers  from  that  region 
were  more  likely  to  become  distinguished.  And  further- 
more, the  Avork  of  Whitefield  and  others  awoke  tlie 
slumbering  Congregationalists  of  New  England,  and 
brought  out  the  enthusiastic  Separates,  many  of  whom 
became  Baptists,  and  traveled  southward,  in  a  mission- 
ary spirit,  to  supply  the  destitution.  These  considera- 
tions will  help  to  account  for  the  fact  mentioned.  And 
already,  in  1774,  if  we  look  at  the  younger  men  just 
coming  forward  and  giving  especial  promise  of  useful- 
ness, we  shall  see  a  very  large  number  in  the  Southern 
Colonies.  Some  of  these  young  men  we  must  briefly 
notice. 

William  Fristoe,  hardly  thirty  years  old,  is  already 
famous  in  Virginia,  with  many  seals  to  his  ministry,  and 
in  this  year  is  chosen  moderator  of  the  great  Ketocton 
Association.  ^'Swearing  Jack  Waller,"  thirty-three 
years  old,  once  a  dissipated  young  man  of  good  family, 
and  a  persecutor  of  the  Baptists,  was  converted  and  bap- 
tized seven  years  ago,  and  some  time  after  was  long  im- 
prisoned for  preaching.  He  blazes  with  unquenchable 
zeal,  and  turns  many  to  righteousness  in  his  native 
State,  and  has  doubtless  little  idea  that  he  will  be 
buried  in  Abbeville  District,  South  Carolina.  James 
Ireland,  aged  twenty-six,  a  Scotch  school-master  in 
Northern  Virginia,  and  very  wicked,  was  in  a  singular 
manner  convicted  and  converted,  and  five  years  ago  was 
baptized  by  Samuel  Harriss,  and  beginning  to  preach 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     233 

with  great  zeal  and  eifect,  was  soon  after  seized  and  im- 
prisoned at  Culpeper  Court-House,  where  his  enemies 
tried  to  blow  up  his  room  in  the  jail  with  gunpowder, 
and  to  suffocate  him  with  fumes  of  sulphur,  all  for 
preaching  the  gospel ;  and  he  retaliated  simply  hy 
preaching  through  the  jail  window  to  the  people  wiio 
would  gather  around.  He  is  now  at  liberty  and  zeal- 
ously at  work,  ^yilliam  Marshall,  of  Fauquier,  now 
thirty-nine  years  old,  was  converted  six  years  ago. 
Being  of  an  influential  family,  and  having  been  a  con- 
spicuous man  of  fashion,  it  made  a  great  noise  when  he 
became  a  Baptist  preacher,  and  the  crowds  who  came  to 
hear  him  have  always  been  deeply  impressed,  and  great 
numbers  of  them  converted.  He  has  a  young  nephew, 
John  Marshall,  who  will  in  coming  years  be  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  a  new  nation.  Lewis  Lunsford,  near  Freder- 
icksburg, is  only  twenty-two  years  old,  but  began*  to 
preach  five  years  ago,  being  called  "  the  wonderful  boy,'' 
and  his  preaching  attended  by  great  crowds.  With  all 
this,  and  while  he  must  have  been  conscious  of  possess- 
ing extraordinary  talents,  lie  has  not  been  spoiled,  but  is 
full  of  humility  and  devotion.  But  the  time  would  fail 
to  tell  of  Picket,  Conner,  Williams,  Taylor,  the  brothers 
Craig,  Courtenay,  Koontz,  Garnett,  Webber,  and  many 
more  of  these  promising  young  men,  who  have,  in  1774, 
recently  entered  upon  the  ministry  in  Virginia. 

We  know  of  similar  men  in  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia.  Edmund  Botsford,  a  young  English  soldier, 
came  to  Charleston  some  years  ago,  was  converted  under 
the  ministry  of  Oliver  Hart,  and  for  the  last  three  years 
has  been  preaching  with  great  acceptance  in  the  south- 


234     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

western  part  of  the  State,  until  in  May,  1774,  he  moved 
across  into  Georgia,  whence  we  know  that  he  will,  after 
some  years,  return  to  spend  his  useful  life  in  South  Car- 
olina. Richard  Furman,  elarum  et  venerabile  nomeUj  is 
now  nineteen  years  old.  His  father,  a  surveyor  at  the 
High  Hills  of  Santee,  has  carefully  taught  him  mathe- 
matics and  the  Bible.  Uncommonly  mature  in  intellect 
and  piety,  he  began  to  preacli  at  the  age  of  sixteen. 
Some  youths  of  the  same  age  tried  all  the  arts  of  insult- 
ing ridicule,  but  without  seeming  to  move  him  at  all ; 
his  father  earnestly  strove  to  dissuade  him,  being  anx- 
ious that  he  should  become  a  lawyer,  and  fearful  that 
he  was  carried  away  by  temporary  excitement ;  but  he 
respectfully  urged  an  irresistible  feeling  of  duty.  Soon 
invitations  came  to  visit  destitute  places  in  the  country 
around,  and  he  has  been  preaching  far  and  near.  Tall 
anc^  handsome,  serious  and  dignified  even  in  youth,  his 
grave  and  impressive  eloquence  commands  the  attention 
of  young  and  old,  and  men  can  see  that  he  will  be  a 
prince  and  a  great  man  in  Israel.  Abraham  Marshall, 
son  of  the  Daniel  Marshall  we  spoke  of,  is  living 
with  his  father  in  Georgia,  aged  twenty-six,  and  has 
been  preaching  several  years.  His  educational  advan- 
tages were  confined  to  forty  days  at  an  "old  field 
scliool ; ''  but  his  native  gifts  of  mind,  his  athletic  frame 
and  noble  voice,  his  knowledge  of  the  Bible  and  of  the 
human  heart,  make  him  a  highly  eifective  and  promising 
young  preacher. 

In  Philadelphia  we  find  William  Rogers,  a  native  of 
Newport  and  graduate  of  Rhode  Island  College,  who 
began  to  preach  three  years  ago,  and  for  two  years  has 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     235 

been  pastor  of  the  Philadelphia  Church — a  young  man 
of  fine  gifts  and  culture,  and  refined  manners,  very 
useful  as  a  preacher,  and  destined  to  distinction  as  a 
professor.  Burgess  Allison,  of  New  Jersey,  has  been 
preaching,  in  fact,  though  not  formally,  since  the  age  of 
sixteen,  and  now,  at  twenty-one,  is  studying  classics  and 
theology  with  Dr.  Samuel  Jones,  near  Philadelphia. 
He  is  fond  of  music  and  painting,  and  has  great  mechan- 
ical ingenuity,  and  with  his  singular  good  sense  is  likely 
to  turn  out  a  useful  preacher  and  teacher,  and  a  distin- 
guished man  of  science.  Thomas  Ustick,  a  native  of 
New  York,  is  also  twenty-one  years  old,  was  baptized 
at  thirteen,  and  graduated  at  Rhode  Island  College,  has 
been  teaching  school  in  New  York  and  studying  for  the 
ministry,  and  in  this  year  has  begun  to  preach.  Modest, 
gentle,  devoted  and  diligent,  he  promises  to  be  very 
useful. 

In  New  England,  likewise,  we  hear  of  several  very 
promising  young  men.  Silas  Burrows,  of  Connecticut, 
has  been  preaching  nine  years.  Without  much  educa- 
tion, he  is  a  man  of  good  sense  and  the  deepest  feeling, 
and  is  wonderfully  gifted  in  prayer  and  exhortation. 
Charles  Thompson,  a  native  of  New.  Jersey,  belonged  to 
the  first  graduating  class  of  Rhode  Island  College,  five 
years  ago,  and  for  the  past  four  years  has  been  pastor  at 
Warren,  R.  I.  Vigorous  in  intellect,  and  very  diligent 
in  study,  with  a  fine  figure  and  magnificent  voice,  full 
of  tender  pathos  and  of  lofty  passion,  and  devoted  to  his 
work,  he  is  a  young  man  of  mark.  His  classmate  at 
college,  William  Williams,  of  Welsh  descent,  was  bap- 
tized three  years  ago  by  Thompson,  at  Warren,  and  li- 


236     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.   1774. 

censed  to  preach,  and  in  connection  with  the  ministry 
will  become  famous  in  Massachusetts  as  a  teacher. 

It  has  seemed  a  long  list,  of  older  and  middle-aged 
and  young  Baptist  ministers,  who  were  living  in  1774. 
Yet  it  has  been  made  short  by  reluctantly  omitting 
names  well  worthy  to  be  known  and  honored. 

And  there  are  youths  who  have  not  yet  entered  the 
ministry,  but  will  one  day  be  heard  of.  John  Leland, 
twenty-one  years  old,  was  baptized  in  June,  in  Massa- 
chusetts. Thomas  Baldwin,  of  the  same  age,  is  living 
in  Connecticut,  a  diligent  student,  but  not  yet  a  Chris- 
tian. Silas  Mercer,  in  Georgia,  is  twenty-nine  years  old ; 
originally  an  E])iscopalian,  he  has  become  a  Baptist  in 
sentiment,  but  will  not  be  baptized  until  next  year. 
Henry  Holcorabe  is  a  boy  of  twelve  years,  and  his 
father  has  recently  removed  with  him  from  Virginia  to 
South  Carolina.  Jonathan  jNIaxcy  is  six  years  old,  in 
Massachusetts,  a  very  precocious  child,  Avho  will  not  die 
early.  Robert  B.  Semple  is  five  years  old,  in  King  and 
Queen.  Andrew  Broaddus  is  four  years  old,  in  Caro- 
line County,  Va.,  and  his  father,  a  zealous  member  of 
the  Establishment,  designs  that  his  son  shall  be  a  cler- 
gyman. 

Glance  a  moment,  too,  across  the  water.  AVhitefield 
died  four  years  ago.  AYesley,  though  over  seventy,  has 
many  years  of  work  in  him  still.  Of  the  English  Bap- 
tists, Dr.  Gill,  the  great  Talraudical  scholar,  author  of  a 
giant  commentary  on  the  whole  Bible,  an  elaborate  Sys- 
tematic Theology  and  many  other  works,  and  yet  all 
his  life  a  hard-working  pastor,  died  three  years  since  in 
London.     Robert  Robinson,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine, 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     237 

is  already  a  well-known  author,  an  omnivorous  reader, 
and  a  highly  popular  preacher  under  the  shadow  of  the 
University  of  Cambridge.  Stennett  and  Beddome, 
authors  of  so  many  excellent  hymns,  are  in  their  prime. 
Andrew  Fuller  is  twenty  years  old,  having  been  bap- 
tized at  sixteen,  and  after  several  years  of  providential 
leading  towards  the  ministry,  has  just  begun  to  preach 
regularly.  Robert  Hall,  son  of  an  able  and  honored 
minister  of  the  same  name,  is  ten  years  old,  and  loves, 
when  out  of  school,  to  read  over  and  over  again  such 
books  as  Edwards  on  the  Will  and  Butler's  Analogy. 

Let  us  now  single  out  for  brief  observation  some 
points  in  the  opinions  and  practices  of  American  Bap- 
tist ministers  in  1774. 

1.  These  men  felt  themselves  inwardly  called  to  the 
ministry.  Some  of  them  indulged  wildly  enthusiastic 
notions  as  to  the  nature  and  evidences  of  this  call,  but 
at  bottom  it  was  a  thoroughly  correct  conception  which 
prevailed  among  them.  And  on  this  account  it  is  not 
well  to  speak  of  the  ministry  as  a  profession.  One 
ought  not  to  choose  the  ministry  at  all  as  he  might 
choose  to  be  a  lawyer,  physician,  teacher  or  editor,  but  it 
ought  to  be  entered  upon  from  a  sense  of  duty  to  God 
and  man.  We  are  not  claiming  any  special  sanctity  for 
the  pursuit  itself  as  compared  with  the  professions,  but 
only  urging  the  importance  of  carefully  avoiding  the 
notion  that  to  enter  upon  the  ministry  is  merely  "  mak- 
ing choice  of  a  profession." 

2.  They  endured  great  hardships  in  the  prosecution  of 
their  work.  Frequent  and  immensely  long  journeys  on 
horseback,   through  thinly-settled   districts,  devoid    of 


238     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

comforts,  were  taken  by  almost  all  the  pastors  in  their 
evangelizing  labors,  and  burning  zeal  often  impelled 
them  to  severer  toils  than  they  were  able  to  bear.  Besides, 
there  was  not  seldom  persecution,  involving  indignities, 
discomforts  and  sometimes  positive  sufferings.  Many  of 
us  are  familiar  with  the  story  of  such  persecutions  in 
Virginia  ;  but  they  began  far  earlier  in  Massachusetts, 
and  were  violent  there  at  the  time  of  which  we  speak, 
the  Cavalier  and  the  Puritan  establishments  being 
equally  harsh  and  cruel.  The  Baptists  are  one  of  the 
few  religious  denominations  that  have  never  persecuted. 
We  cannot  say  they  have  been  personally  too  good,  see- 
ing that  some  of  them  have  shown  great  bitterness  to- 
wards other  religionists  and  even  towards  their  own 
brethren  who  differed  from  them ;  but  their  immemorial 
principle  of  opposition  to  all  union  of  church  and  state 
has  always  made  it  impossible  that  they  should  per- 
secute. In  so  doing  they  would  at  once  cease  to  be 
Baptists. 

These  hardships,  from  persecution  and  from  minister- 
ial labor,  often  told  upon  health.  Many  suppose  that 
the  frequent  deaths  from  paralysis,  for  instance,  are  a 
peculiarity  of  our  times.  But  among  the  men  we  have 
been  speaking  of  it  is  mentioned  that  Backus,  Alden, 
Gano,  Harriss,  Still  man  and  Manning  all  died  of  par- 
alytic affections.  True,  these  had  all  passed  through  the 
long  agony  of  the  Revolution. 

3.  Many  of  our  brethren  of  that  day  erred  about 
ministerial  support.  What  they  called  the  ^^  hireling 
ministry  "  of  the  establishments  was  an  abomination  to 
them,  and  they  frequently  went  to  the  opposite  extreme. 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     239 

some  of  them  even  proclaiming  that  they  wished  no  contri- 
butions for  their  support ;  and  not  being  wise  enough  to 
see  and  explain,  like  the  apostle  Paul,  the  difference  be- 
tween the  course  which  for  temporary  neasons  they  pur- 
sued, and  the  general  right  of  ministers  to  be  supported. 
Their  undiscriminating  teachings  were  but  too  accept- 
able to  human  selfishness,  and  left  deep-rooted  errors 
which  we  are  still  toiling  to  eradicate. 

4.  Our  ministers,  in  1774,  were  in  general  heartily  in 
favor  of  ministerial  education,  and  many  of  them  were 
themselves  highly  educated  men.  This  last  had  been 
true  from  the  beginning.  Hansard  Knollys  and  Roger 
Williams  had  both  been  clergymen  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  educated  at  the  English  universities,  and 
John  Clarke  was  a  diligent  student  of  the  original 
Scriptures.  In  the  eighteenth  century  Elisha  Callender 
was  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  Samuel  Jones  and  the 
younger  John  Davis  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia, 
President  Manning  and  Hezekiah  Smith,  of  Princeton, 
and  Charles  Thompson,  William  Williams,  Thomas  Us- 
tick  and  William  Rogers,  of  Rhode  Island  College.  A 
number  of  others,  though  not  college  graduates,  were 
diligent  students  and  really  well  educated  ;  for  example, 
Valentine  Wightman,  Thurston,  Kinnersley,  Gano,  Abel 
Morgan  (senior  and  junior),  Morgan  Edwards,  David 
Jones,  David  Thomas,  Oliver  Hart,  Stillman  and  Fur- 
man,  several  of  whom  were  eminent  for  their  general 
and  theological  attainments  and  teachers  of  others.  The 
only  men  we  have  spoken  of  who  became  leading  min- 
isters Vv'ithout  being  what  we  might  fairly  call  educated, 
were  Isaac  Backus  and  Silas  Barrows,  Shubael  Stearns,, 


240     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

Daniel  ]\Iarshall  and  his  son  Abraham,  Samuel  Harriss 
and  some  of  the  younger  men  in  Virginia,  and  Edmund 
Botsford ;  and  some  of  these  were  highly  intelligent  and 
well-informed.  Great  interest  was  also  shown  in  insti- 
tutions for  higher  education.  An  English  Baptist  mer- 
chant, Thomas  Hollis,  gave  a  large  donation  to  Harvard 
College  to  found  a  professorship,  about  1720.  Besides 
the  famous  Hopewell  School  in  New  Jersey,  established 
by  Isaac  Eaton  with  express  reference  to  the  preparation 
of  young  men  for  the  ministry,  and  which  we  have  had 
occasion  to  mention  so  often,  several  high  schools,  con- 
ducted by  Baptists,  are  known  to  us  as  in  existence  at  the 
time.  Khode  Island  College  (Brown  University),  es- 
tablished in  1764,  awakened  the  liveliest  interest  among 
the  Baptists  everywhere.  The  Pennsylvanians,  in  fact, 
claimed  to  have  originated  the  movement.  The  college 
was  located  in  Rhode  Island  because  there  only  was 
there  absolute  religious  liberty.  It  received  contributions 
of  money,  soon  after  its  establishment,  from  Virginia 
and  South  Carolina,  as  well  as  from  New  England  and 
the  Middle  Colonies.  AVe  find  the  associations  also  early 
expressing  interest  in  ministerial  education.  At  the 
Philadelphia  Association,  in  1722,  "it  was  proposed  by 
the  churches  to  make  inquiry  among  themselves  if  they 
have  any  young  persons  hopeful  for  the  ministry  and 
inclinable  for  learning,  and  if  they  have  to  give  notice  of 
it  to  Mr.  Abel  Morgan,  that  he  might  recommend  such 
to  the  academy,  on  Mr.  Hollis  his  account.'^  Mr.  Hol- 
lis, besides  endowing  the  professorship  in  Harvard,  had 
apparently  authorized  Abel  Morgan  to  send  young  men 
preparing  for  the  ministry  to  the  academy   in  Philadel- 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.T).  1774.     241 

phia,  and  look  to  him  for  the  money.  The  association 
wishes  to  co-operate  in  this,  and  the  rather  quaint  phrase 
of  their  minutes  is  worth  remembering, — "  Any  young 
persons  hopeful  for  the  ministry  and  inclinable  for  learn- 
ing.'' In  1756  the  Charleston  Association,  South  Caro- 
lina, recommended  that  the  churches  raise  "  a  fund  to 
furnish  suitable  candidates  for  the  ministry  with  a  com- 
petent share  of  learning."  And  we  have  seen  that  in 
the  previous  year,  1755,  a  society  had  been  formed  for 
that  purpose  by  the  cliurch  in  Charleston,  which  aided 
Stillman,  Botsford  and  others  in  pursuing  studies  for 
the  ministry,  Oliver  Hart  being  their  instructor  in 
theology. 

But  while  in  so  many  ways  showing  that  they  valued, 
and  striving  to  promote,  the  education  of  the  ministry, 
our  brethren  were  never  disposed  to  confine  the  office  to 
those  who  had  passed  through  any  specified  course  of 
study.  They  believed  that  God  calls  men  to  become 
preachers  who  have  not  had,  cannot  obtain,  opportunities 
of  regular  preparatory  education  ;  and  that  the  only  test 
which  the  churches  ought  to  apply  is  the  practical  one 
suggested  by  the  apostle's  expression,  "apt  to  teach." 
At  the  same  time,  they  generally  maintained  that  every 
minister  ought  to  gain  all  the  knowledge  he  can.  But  a 
hundred  years  ago  there  was  among  the  Baptists  in  some 
quarters  a  disposition  to  underrate  general  education  in 
ministers,  arising  principally  from  two  causes.  First, 
the  Congregational  and  Episcopal  establishments  had 
both  shown  a  strong  tendency  to  treat  a  course  of  edu- 
cation as  not  only  an  indispensable,  but  the  only  requisite 
preparation  for  preaching,  many  of  their  ministers  making 
16 


2i2     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

no  pretension  to  an  inward  call,  and  some  of  them  not 
even  to  personal  piety.  The  Congregationalist  Separ- 
ates and  the  Baptists,  opposing  themselves  strongly  to 
this,  natn rally  tended  toward  the  opposite  extreme,  mak- 
ing piety  and  the  inward  call  everything,  and  caring 
little  for  the  general  and  theological  education  which  was 
associated  in  their  minds  with  so  many  unspiritiial,  and 
not  a  few  immoral,  clergymen.  Secondly,  the  country 
was  new ;  the  people  themselves  were  in  general  quite 
uneducated,  sympathizing  most  strongly  with  preachers 
who  were  but  little  superior  to  themselves  in  general 
culture  ;  and  many  of  those  among  them  who  were  effi- 
cient in  other  intellectual  callings  were  self-taught  men. 
These  last  considerations,  to  some  extent,  still  hold  good 
in  large  portions  of  our  country.  The  masses  are  still 
comparatively  ignorant,  and  men  who  are  even  partially 
educated  must  take  great  care  or  they  will  fail  to  have 
tlie  complete  sympathy  of  this  important  class  of  their 
liearers.  Alas !  for  the  education  of  ministers  of  Jesus 
if  it  ceases  to  be  true  that  the  common  people  hear  them 
gladly.  And  in  a  country  where  so  many  of  the  ablest 
and  most  successful  statesmen,  lawyers,  physicians, 
teachers,  journalists  have  had  no  regular  education,  there 
is  a  great  want  of  propriety  in  requiring  that  no  one 
sliall  be  a  preacher  who  has  not  gone  through  a  certain 
iixed  course  of  study.  But  it  is  proper  to  insist  that 
every  minister,  as  well  as  every  other  who  aspires  to  in- 
struct his  fellow- men,  must  in  youth  and  in  age  be  a 
learner,  a  diligent  student. 

One  thing  our  brethren  have  always  expected  and 
required, — ^that  the  minister,  whatever  else  he  knows  or 


ameuica:n-  baptist  ministry  of  a.d.  1774.    243 

does  not  know,  shall  study  the  Bible.  To  explain  and 
impress  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  is  his  great  business. 
It  is  very  desirable  for  the  lawyer  to  know  classics  and 
history,  but  necessary  that  he  know  law.  It  is  highly 
useful  for  the  physician  to  know  psychology,  but  indis- 
pensable to  know  medicine.  The  teacher  of  mathemat- 
ics is  much  profited  by  classical  training;  but  he  can  do 
nothing  unless  he  is  acquainted  with  mathematics.  And 
so  the  minister  of  the  gospel  will  find  all  knowledge 
useful,  and  general  training  of  mind  eminently  desira- 
ble ;  but  the  Bible  he  must  know.  And  how  much  it 
means  to  know  the  Bible ! 

Let  us  add  that  a  large  proportion  of  these  ministers 
were  highly  educated  in  another  sense:  they  had  the 
spirit,  habits  and  manners  of  gentlemen.  If  it  is  not 
important  for  a  preacher  and  pastor  to  be  a  gentleman, 
for  whom  is  it  important?  It  is,  in  this  respect,  a  great 
privilege  to  have  been  reared  in  refined  homes.  But  as 
Henry  Clay  and  others  of  our  American  statesmen,  so 
have  many  of  our  ministers  shown  that  a  man  may 
come  up  from  very  inferior  advantages,  and  by  force  of 
native  delicacy  and  generosity  of  feeling,  and  by  dili- 
gent use  of  the  best  social  opportunities,  may  become  a 
noble  gentleman. 

5.  Finally,  notice  the  character  of  their  preaching. 
It  was  eminently  Biblical.  Whether  learned  in  other 
things  or  not,  they  all,  as  we  have  said,  tried  to  know 
the  Bible.  Those  ignorant  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  were 
yet  most  diligent,  loving  and  life-long  students  of  the 
English  Bible.  And  some  who  had  read  few  other 
books  were  yet  "  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,"  often  teach- 


244     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

ing  opposers  the  truth  of  the  old  adage :  "  Beware  of  the 
man  of  one  book."  They  were  familiar  with  the  text 
of  Scripture,  able  to  turn  to  any  passage  they  wanted 
without  a  concordance,  committing  to  memory  long  pas- 
sao-es,  and  some  of  them  whole  books  of  the  Bible.  It 
is  an  abuse  of  our  multiplied  helps  if  we  fail  to  gain 
like  lovino;  familiarity  with  the  sacred  text.  There  is 
point  in  the  words  of  an  Elizabethan  poet : 

I  would  I  were  an  excellent  divine, 

That  had  the  Bible  at  my  fingers'  ends; 

That  men  might  hear  out  of  this  mouth  of  mine 
How  God  doth  make  his  enemies  his  friends. 

And  the  preachers  of  whom  we  speak  used  their  ready 
knowledge  of  Scripture  in  this  Aray,  both  publicly  and 
privately,  whether  men  would  hear  or  Avhether  they 
would  forbear.  "  May  it  please  your  worship,''  said  an 
irate  lawyer  in  Virginia,  "  these  men  are  great  disturb- 
ers of  the  peace ;  they  cannot  meet  a  man  on  the  road 
but  what  they  ram  a  text  of  Scripture  down  his  throat." 
Tlieir  preaching  was  also  eminently  doctrinal.  The 
great  Scripture  doctrines  of  depravity,  atonement  and 
regeneration  were  almost  unknown  to  many  of  their 
hearers,  and  disputed  by  many  others.  And  so  the 
preacher  felt  called  continually  to  preach  these  and  the 
related  doctrines,  ]>roving  and  enforcing  them  by  liberal 
quotations  from  the  text  of  Scripture.  Whenever  men 
cease  to  preach  these  great  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  draw- 
ing tliem  directly  from  the  fountain  head,  believing 
something  definite,  knowing  what  they  believe  and  why 
they  believe  it,  and  how  to  prove  it  from  the  Inspired 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     245 

Word,  then  the  pulpit  soon  loses  its  power.  Their  preach- 
ing was,  at  the  same  time,  eminently  experimental.  It  was 
very  common  for  the  preacher  to  tell  the  exercises  of  his 
mind  at  the  time  of  his  conversion.  When  modestly  and 
wisely  done,  as  it  has  been  done  by  Bunyan,  Augustine, 
Paul,  this  can  never  fail  to  be  full  of  interest  and  impres- 
siveness.  The  Washingtonian  temperance  speakers  car- 
ried too  far  their  narratives  of  a  drunkard's  experience, 
and  so  may  our  old  preachers  have  sometimes  gone  too 
far  with  their  experience-telling ;  but  the  thing  is  natu- 
ral and  lawful,  and  is  mighty,  if  fitly  managed. 

As  to  their  manner  of  preaching,  but  little  need  be 
said.  They  had  all  the  methods  of  preparation  and 
delivery  which  we  have,  and  differed  about  them  as  we 
do.  Some  of  them,  particularly  of  those  who  traveled 
widely  and  preached  much  in  the  open  air — and  chiefly, 
it  Avould  appear,  among  the  Separates — acquired  certain 
offensive  mannerisms  of  delivery,  the  most  striking  of 
which  was  a  peculiarity  of  tone,  commonly  called  the 
"  holy  whine,''  which  may  still  be  heard  in  some  very 
ignorant  preachers  in  certain  parts  of  the  country.  This 
unpleasing  and,  to  some  persons,  very  ridiculous  prac- 
tice had  a  natural  origin.  When  men  spoke  to  crowds 
in  the  open  air,  on  a  high  key,  with  great  excitement 
for  a  long  time,  the  over-strained  voice  would  relieve 
itself  by  rising  and  falling,  as  a  person  tired  of  standing 
will  frequently  change  position.  This  soon  became  a 
habit  with  such  men,  and  then  would  be  imitated  by 
others,  being  regarded  as  the  appropriate  expression  of 
excited  feeling.  The  same  causes  produce  the  same 
sing-song  tone  in  the  loud  cries  of  street-vendors  in  our 


246     AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774. 

cities.  But  the  whine  of  the  preacher,  associated  for 
many  ignorant  hearers  with  seasons  of  impassioned  ap- 
peal from  the  pulpit,  and  of  deep  feeling  on  their  own 
part,  has  become  a  musical  accompaniment  which  grati- 
fies and  impresses  them,  and,  like  a  tune  we  remember 
from  childhood,  revives  "the  memory  of  joys  that  are 
past,  pleasant  and  mournful."  Why  should  we  wonder 
at  all  this?  Extremes  meet.  What  is  the  intoning ^ 
which  modern  ritualists  in  this  country  so  much  admire, 
but  just  another  species  of  holy  whine,  originating  long 
centuries  ago  in  very  similar  natural  causes  to  those  just 
stated,  and  impressive  to  some  people  now  by  reason  of 
its  association  with  what  is  old  and  venerable  in  devo- 
tion? If  any  one  doubts  that  it  is  the  same  thing,  let 
him  hear  the  intoning  in  the  Armenian  Convent  Church 
at  Jerusalem. 

It  suffices  to  add  that  the  preachers  of  that  day  de- 
pended much  on  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  give  them 
liberty  in  speaking,  and  the  hearts  of  their  hearers. 
Some  of  them  carried  this  to  an  enthusiastic  extreme. 
But  every  truth  is  perverted  by  somebody.  And  it  is 
a  great  fundamental  truth,  to  which  we  must  cling,  that 
God  will  help  us  in  preaching  and  himself  "  giveth  the 
increase." 

The  American  Baptist  ministers  of  one  hundred  years 
ago  labored  not  in  vain.  The  denomination  was  grow- 
ing rapidly  in  the  years  before  the  Revolution,  and  it  has 
continued  to  grow.  In  1774  the  total  membership  of 
Baptist  churches  throughout  the  colonies  is  estimated  to 
have  been  not  more  than  (30,000)  thirty  thousand,  and 
many  think  this  estimate  too  high.     Thus  the  member- 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  MINISTRY  OF  A.D.  1774.     247 

ship  was  less  than  one  per  cent,  of  the  population.  In 
1884  we  had  in  the  United  States  of  regular  Baptists, 
exclusive  of  cognate  outlying  bodies,  at  least  (2,500,000) 
two  million  five  hundred  thousand  members,  which  is 
nearly  five  per  cent,  of  the  population.  More  than  one- 
half  uf  our  present  population  is  of  German,  Irish, 
French,  Italian  or  Spanish  descent,  and  thus  originally 
altogether  averse  to  any  such  opinions  as  ours  ;  there  has 
been  no  Baptist  immigration  except  from  England  and 
Wales,  and  to  a  small  extent  from  Scotland  ;  yet  in  the 
face  of  all  this  we  have  an  increase  in  our  membership 
from  one  per  cent,  to  five  per  cent,  of  the  population, 
and  the  persons  more  attached  to  the  Baptists  than  any 
other  persuasion  must  be  from  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  of 
the  entire  population.  This  shows  that  the  work  of  our 
fathers^  hands  has  been  blessed. 

And  yet  how  many  of  these  church  members  are  com- 
paratively useless.  And  throughout  the  country  what 
growing  masses  of  noisy  infidelity — what  a  spread  of 
irreligion  and  corrupted  Christianity,  of  immorality  and 
vice,  of  political  corruption  and  social  pollution  !  Not 
only  the  example  of  the  past  age,  but  the  pressing  needs 
of  our  own  age,  call  us  to  diligent,  self-denying,  devoted 
labor.  And  are  we  ambitious  ?  Do  we  ask  whether  a 
hundred  years  to  come  men  will  be  searching  our  his- 
tory, repeating  our  names,  rejoicing  in  our  work  ?  It 
matters  little,  for  "  they  that  are  wise  shall  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many 
to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever.'^  ^^ay, 
it  matters  not  at  all,  if  only  we  can  hear  at  last  that 
thrilling  word,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant, 
enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 


xy. 

COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

THOSE  sprightly,  growing  boys  of  yours,  what  are 
you  going  to  do  about  their  education?  Let  us 
think  a  little  upon  that  question.  Even  if  your  mind  is 
partly  made  up,  there  is  no  harm  in  listening  to  the 
notions  of  a  man  who  has  spent  his  life  as  an  educator ; 
of  course  you  will  decide  for  yourself  all  the  same. 

You  have  been  looking  about  for  now  a  good  many 
years,  and  have  pretty  much  concluded  that  it  is  desira- 
ble for  those  who  are  to  be  professional  men  to  go  to 
college.  But  your  son  will  not  enter  a  profession;  he 
is  going  to  spend  his  life  in  business.     I  ask, 

HOW   DO   YOU   KNOW? 

You  may  have  a  very  definite  purpose  on  the  subject, 
and  so  may  he;  but  how  can  you  be  sure?  Inquire 
concerning  the  men  who  have  succeeded  well  in  the  sev- 
eral professions,  and  it  will  be  very  curious  to  see  how 
small  a  proportion  of  them,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  or 
eigliteen,  had  any  notion  of  spending  their  lives  in  the 
professions  they  finally  adopted.  Parents  and  teachers 
ofler  err  egregiously  in  their  judgment  as  to  what  a 
youth  was  born  for.  It  is  said,  that  when  Mr.  Moody 
first  spoke  in  a  prayer-meeting,  his  pastor  advised  him 
not  to  attempt  that  again,  as  he  had  evidently  no  talent 
248 


COLI^EGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.     249 

for  public  speaking;  and  now,  let  the  crowds  that 
hear  his  preaching  tell,  and  the  thousands  of  converts. 
And  the  lad  himself  will  often  err  likewise.  At  one 
period  of  my  own  boyhood  I  read  Cooper's  novels,  of 
which  my  father  was  very  fond,  until  I  became  enam- 
ored of  Indian  life,  and  fully  resolved  that  so  soon  as  I 
became  "  a  man,''  I  would  go  to  the  Missouri  Territory 
(as  they  used  to  call  it),  among  the  Blackfoot  Indians,  get 
to  be  a  great  hunter  and  fighter,  marry  a  squaw,  tlie 
daughter  of  an  old  chief,  and  succeed  him  as  chief  of 
the  tribe,  and  live  and  die  in  paint  and  feathers.  Would 
any  sensible  father  and  mother  have  said.  The  boy  has 
got  his  head  on  that;  it  shows  the  native  bent  of  his 
genius,  and  so  there  is  no  use  in  sending  him  to  board- 
ing-school? How  do  you  know,  then,  and  how  does 
your  son  know,  though  he  may  have  no  such  silly  fancies 
as  the  boy  just  mentioned,  what  is  his  destined  calling 
for  life  ?  And  especially  is  this  true  as  to  the  ministry  of 
the  gospel.  If  a  man  must  be  divinely  called  to  this  work, 
that  will  often  happen  much  later  in  life  than  the  pro- 
per time  for  entering  college. 

I  am  very  glad  you  hold  that  the  professional  men  of 
the  future  ought,  in  general,  to  be  thoroughly  educated. 
Even  in  the  past,  the  most  eminent  men  have  much  more 
frequently  had  this  advantage  than  most  persons  im- 
agine. Of  the  leading  Baptist  ministers  in  America  a 
hundred  years  ago,  quite  a  number  had  been  to  college, 
and  nearly  all  the  rest  were  laborious  students.  Or 
take  our  statesmen.  America  has  been  the  Paradise 
of  what  we  call  self-made  men.  In  every  calling  such 
men  came  to  the  front,  and  in  politics  there  was  long  a 


250     COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

decided  advantage  in  being  a  self-made  man.  The  frac- 
tion of  Americans  who  have  been  to  college  is  ex- 
tremely small ;  how  large,  in  comparison,  is  the  fraction 
of  leading  statesmen  who  were  college  bred,  even  in 
this  "new  country,'^  with  a  prejudice  in  favor  of  the 
other  class.  Look  at  Congress,  or  the  Legislature  of 
this  State,  at  any  time  during  the  last  hundred  years,  or 
at  the  present  day,  and  the  comparison  of  these  two  frac- 
tions will  be  very  suggestive.  And  then  we  must  stop 
calling  ours  a  new  country.  Things  are  rapidly  chang- 
ing. In  medicine  and  law  it  will,  in  less  than  fifty 
years,  be  required  by  public  opinion  here,  as  it  is  now  in 
Europe,  that  the  acceptable  practitioner  shall  have  a  good 
general  education  and  a  thorough  training  in  his  pro- 
fession. The  editorial  profession,  which  is  looming  up 
into  such  importance,  greatly  needs  thorough  education, 
in  order  to  breadth  of  view  and  sympathy  with  all  truth, 
in  order  to  correct  handling  of  the  ten  thousand  sub- 
jects which  journalists  have  to  treat,  and  in  order  that 
they  may  cease  butchering  the  English  language  and 
shocking  literary  taste  in  the  frightful  fashion  to  which, 
with  few  exceptions,  they  are  now  accustomed.  And 
teachers,  what  profession  is  more  important  than  this? 
What  greater  need  is  there  among  us — except  the  need 
of  Christian  morality  —  than  of  really  well-qualified 
teachers?  Everybody  believes  in  schools  for  children. 
But  education  has  to  work  from  above  downwards. 
Where  shall  we  get  educated  teachers,  unless  people 
more  generally  send  their  sons  to  our  higher  schools? 
As  to  our  ministers,  I  think  the  Baptists  have  been 
quite   right  in  encouraging   some   uneducated  men   to 


COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.     251 

preach.  It  was  a  necessity,  else  the  masses  would 
never  have  been  reached ;  for  well-educated  men  were 
too  few,  and  the  illiterate  could  often  command  a  fuller 
sympathy.  A  like  necessity  will  still  exist,  but  it  will 
be  constantly  diminishing.  An  increasingly  large  pro- 
portion of  our  ministers  must  be  thoroughly  educated 
men,  or  Baptists  will  not  keep  pace  with  the  times. 
But,  coming  back  to  your  son, 

SUPPOSE    HE   DOES 

spend  his  life  as  a  man  of  business,  an  agriculturist, 
merchant,  manufacturer  or  the  like.  I  earnestly  urge 
that  in  such  a  business  life,  higher  education,  or  what 
we  commonly  call  college  education,  will  be  of  great 
advantage  to  him.  So  many  doubt  this,  deny,  even 
ridicule  the  idea,  that  I  beg  your  special  attention. 
Good  and  generous  men,  all  over  the  land,  are  even 
giving  their  money  to  endow  colleges  to  educate  other 
people's  sons,  and  then  entirely  failing  to  send  their 
own  sons  to  them.  Now,  I  think,  there  is  no  little 
popular  error  about  this  something  we  call  education, 
partly  due  to  the  wrong  methods  pursued  and  wrong 
ideas  put  forth  by  some  professed  educators.  Pray  con- 
sider, then, 

WHAT   DO   WE   MEAN   BY    EDUCATION? 

This  term  is  generally  used  among  us  in  quite  too 
narrow  a  sense.  Thus,  we  hear  a  great  deal  about 
'^educated  men"  and  "self-educated  men."  But,  in  one 
sense,  every  man  is  self-educated  who  is  ever  really  edu- 
cated at  all.     It  is  only  in  the  voluntary  exertion  of  his 


252    COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

mental  powers  that  he  gains  development  and  discipline 
of  these  powers.  John  Kandolph  said  :  "  Put  a  block- 
head through  college,  and  the  more  books  you  pile  on 
his  head  the  bigger  blockhead  he  will  be."  A  man  has 
to  educate  himself,  no  matter  how  numerous  and  advan- 
tageous his  helps.  And  then,  in  another  sense,  no  man 
is  self-educated.  Even  those  who  never  have  a  teacher, 
if  they  really  become  educated  men,  have  been  educated 
by  books  (teachers  who,  being  dead,  yet  speak),  by  the 
men  with  whom  they  converse,  by  the  events  which 
lead  them  to  think,  which  draw  out  their  powers  into 
active  exercise,  by  the  ideas  which  are  abroad  in  the 
atmosphere  of  their  time.  There  is,  then,  no  such  broad 
difference  between  the  educated  and  the  self-educated  as 
many  suppose. 

Now,  when  can  Ave  say  that  one  is  an  educated  man  ? 
My  answer  would  make  something  like  the  following 
points :  1.  An  educated  man  is  one  whose  mind  is 
widened  out,  so  that  he  can  take  broad  views,  instead 
of  being  narrow-minded ;  so  that  he  can  see  the  differ- 
ent sides  of  a  question,  or  at  least  can  know  that  all 
questions  have  different  sides.  2.  An  educated  man  is 
one  who  has  the  powder  of  patient  thinking ;  who  can 
fasten  his  mind  on  a  subject,  and  hold  it  there  while  he 
pleases;  who  can  keep  looking  at  a  subject  till  he  sees 
into  it  and  sees  through  it.  If  anybody  imagines  it 
easy  to  think,  in  this  steady  way,  he  has  not  tried  it 
mucli.  3.  Again,  an  educated  man  is  one  who  has 
sound  judgment,  who  knows  how  to  reason  to  right 
conclusions,  and  so  to  argue  as  to  convince  others  that 
he  is  right.     4.  And  finally — not  to  speak  now  of  im- 


COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.     253 

agination  and  taste,  important  as  they  are — an  educated 
man  is  one  who  can  express  his  thoughts  clearly  and 
forcibly.  Now,  if  this  be  a  roughly  correct  description 
of  an  educated  man,  there  are  many  among  us  who  de- 
serve that  name,  though  they  never  w^ent  to  college,  and 
some  of  them  went  little  to  school.  Look  at  our  really 
successful  business  men.  You  will  find  that  in  most 
cases  their  minds  are  widened,  so  that  tliey  can  take 
broad  views.  How  grandly  comprehensive  are  often 
the  views  of  a  great  planter,  merchant,  manufacturer  or 
railroad  man  !  Also,  that  they  can  keep  thinking  of  a 
subject  till  they  see  into  it;  that  they  can  judge  soundly, 
and  reason  and  argue,  reaching  just  conclusions  them- 
selves, and  convincing  others  that  they  are  right ;  and 
that  they  have  command  of  clear  and  forcible  expres- 
sion.    These,  then,  are  really  educated  men. 

But  notice.  They  gain  this  education,  in  the  school 
of  life,  very  slowly  in  most  cases,  and  usually  cannot  be 
called  educated  in  this  sense,  until  they  have  reached  or 
passed  middle  age.  Now  is  it  possible  to  select  certain 
branches  of  knowledge,  and  combine  them  into  such  an 
apparatus  of  mental  training,  that,  by  putting  our  young 
men  through  this,  we  can,  to  a  great  extent,  anticipate 
the  discipline  which  would  be  slowly  gained  in  the 
school  of  life,  can  give  to  the  young  man  of  twenty-one 
or  tw^enty-five  much  of  that  accuracy  of  thought,  sound- 
ness of  judgment  and  command  of  expression,  which 
otherwise  he  w^ould  not  haye  till  he  reaches  fifty  or 
more  ?  Of  course  this  cannot  be  wholly  done,  for  some 
kinds  of  mental  training  can  be  gained  only  by  expe- 
rience and  by  slow  degrees;  but  can   it  be  done  to  a 


254    COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

considerable  extent  ?  Wide  and  varied  experiment  has 
shown  that  it  can  be.  And  precisely  this  is  the  main 
object  of  all  wise  educational  processes.  The  knowledge 
gained  may  or  may  not  be  directly  useful  in  subsequent 
life :  the  main  thing  is  to  educate,  to  give  the  young 
man,  in  a  few  years,  much  of  that  development  and 
strengthening  and  discipline  of  his  principal  faculties, 
that  use  of  himself,  which,  otherwise,  he  would  have 
only  when  almost  an  old  man.  And  remember  that  if, 
in  certain  respects,  Ave  cannot  anticipate  tlie  lessons  of 
the  school  of  life,  in  other  respects  we  can  prepare  tlie 
young  man  to  learn  those  lessons  to  better  purpose  than 
would  otherwise,  for  him,  have  been  possible. 

See,  then,  how  unwise  people  are  when  they  keep 
asking :  ''  What  good  will  Latin  and  Astronomy  and 
Metaphysics  do  a  business  man?''  and  keep  saying  that 
our  youth  must  study  only  those  branches  of  knowledge 
that  will  be  "useful.''  What  can  be  so  useful  to  a 
young  man  as  to  improve  his  sense,  to  give  him  greater 
power  of  thinking  closely  and  soundly,  and  of  making 
other  people  think  as  he  thinks,  and  do  wdiat  he  w^ants 
them  to  do?  You  wish  your  son  to  be  a  practical  man; 
but  you  do  not  want  him  to  spend  his  life  as  simply  a 
day-laborer.  Well,  if  he  is  to  rise  above  this,  is  to  ac- 
quire property  and  control  the  labor  of  others  for  his 
advantage,  it  must  be  done  by  sense.  Not  even  indus- 
try and  saving  ways  will  suffice,  unless  he  can  see  into 
things,  judge  wisely  about  complicated  questions  and 
talk  sensibly  to  those  with  whom  he  deals.  No  doubt 
these  powers  depend  partly  on  natural  endowment ;  but, 
then,  they  can  be  greatly  improved  by  education,  and  I 


COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.     255 

insist  that  to  improve  them  is  the  miiin  object  of  all 
wise  educational  processes.  In  fact,  the  method  of  edu- 
cation is  even  more  important  than  tlie  material.  A 
superior  teacher  could,  to  a  great  extent,  educate  a  supe- 
rior pupil  with  almost  any  branch  of  knoNvlcdge.  But 
certain  subjects,  suitably  combined,  are  found  to  have 
much  greater  educating  power  than  others,  and  on  this 
principle  we  select  and  recommend.  If  some  of  them 
are  also  of  practical  utility,  that  is,  of  course,  very  desi- 
rable. But,  in  very  important  respects,  the  mind  may 
be  better  enlarged,  invigorated,  disciplined  by  subjects 
of  study  which  have  little  to  do  with  practical  life;  and 
I  repeat  that  the  effect  on  the  mind  itself  is  the  princi- 
pal matter. 

RESULTS   OF   SUCCESS   IN   BUSINESS. 

Besides,  you  do  not  simply  wish  your  son  to  prosper 
in  business,  to  accumulate  property.  Think  of  the  good 
he  is  to  get  from  his  business  success.  Pie  will  wish  to 
have  a  home,  a  bright  and  sweet  home.  Wealth  alone 
cannot  make  this.  I  am  not  speaking  now  of  the  one 
thing  that  is  needful,  but  consider  how  much  culture 
contributes  to  the  happiness  and  highest  well-being  of  a 
growing  family.  Almost  every  man  wdio  has  financial 
prosperity  aspires  to  this.  Some  succeed,  notwithstand- 
ing the  lack  of  early  advantages,  but  very  few  under  such 
circumstances  attain  true  and  high  culture.  IMany  a 
worthy  gentleman  of  middle  age,  fondly  watching  his 
groAving  children,  and  longing  to  inspire  them  w^ith  a 
relish  for  the  delights  of  history,  poetry,  and  popular 
science,  to  see  them  bathe  their   young   minds  in  the 


256     COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

sweet  waters  of  literature,  resolves  winter  after  winter 
that  he  will  read  upon  certain  subjects — buys  a  number 
of  books,  begins,  and  next  summer  remembers  that  he 
has  done  almost  nothing,  and  mourns,  again  and  again, 
that  he  did  not  acquire  reading  habits,  and  a  basis  of 
literary  knowledge,  in  his  youth.  And  sooth  to  say, 
many  of  our  girls  are  now  receiving  a  fairly  good  educa- 
tion, and  women  are  so  quick  in  picking  up  and  turning 
to  account  a  knowledge  of  general  literature,  that  our 
young  men  must  get  a  better  education  than  has  been 
common,  or  they  will  in  many  cases  find  themselves 
unpleasantly  inferior  to  their  wives. 

Still  further,  as  to  your  son,  think  of  the  good  he  is 
to  do  in  life.  Success  in  business  will  give  him  influ- 
ence in  some  respects,  but  how  much  more  influential  he 
will  be,  and  how  much  more  useful  as  a  member  of 
society,  if  he  had  in  youth  a  good  education.  You  have 
known  here  and  there  a  man  prosperous,  intelligent  and 
of  high  character,  who  in  a  country  neighborhood  or  a 
village  was  worth  as  much  as  a  school — he  seemed  to  lift 
up  the  whole  community.  In  our  current  politics  one  of 
the  great  wants  is  that  of  intelligent  leading  citizens. 
There  is  much  humbug  now-a-days  about  reading  and 
writing.  Some  of  our  new-light  philosophei's  seem  to 
think  that  if  we  can  only  teach  everybody  to  read  and 
write,  then  the  masses  will  always  vote  wisely  and  do 
right.  But  what  do  they  read  ?  The  fact  is,  the  masses 
need,  and  always  have,  leaders,  to  tell  them  what  to  do ; 
and  the  only  question  is  \N'hether  they  shall  be  led  by 
low  demagogues,  or  persons  not  much  wiser  than  them- 
selves, or  on   the  other  hand  by  men  worthy  to  lead, 


COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.     257 

qualified  to  lead  wisely.  So,  too,  in  our  churches,  the 
most  crying  need  at  present  is  for  an  educated  membership. 
We  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  educating  our  minis- 
ters, but  educated  private  members,  of  both  sexes,  are  just 
as  necessary.  These,  where  they  do  exist,  give  interest 
to  Sunday-schools  and  prayer-meetings,  diffuse  correct 
ideas  of  Christian  benevolence,  and  give  sympathetic 
appreciation  and  moral  support  to  an  intelligent  and 
active  pastor.  These  can  meet  in  conversation  the  subtle 
infidelity  which  is  spreading  its  poison  through  all  our 
society,  which  the  pastor  often  declines  to  preach  against 
lest  he  merely  advertise  instead  of  curing,  and  which  is 
seldom  mentioned  to  him  in  private  because  its  advocates 
in  general  do  not  really  wish  to  have  their  errors  cor- 
rected. O  how  much  we  need  a  larger  number  of 
thoroughly  educated  and  truly  devoted  men  and  women 
in  all  the  churches  ! 

DIFFICULTIES    IN   THE   WAY    OF   HIGHER    EDUCATION. 

You  say  you  are  willing  to  send  the  boys  to  school, 
and  want  the  teacher  to  do  the  best  he  can  for  them ; 
but,  when  they  are  pretty  nearly  grown,  you  find  they 
generally  want  to  go  into  business,  and  you  think  they 
are  about  right — go  to  school  while  they  are  boys,  and 
get  to  work  as  soon  as  they  are  men.  But  consider. 
We  have  agreed,  have  we  not,  that  the  mental  conditions 
most  important  for  business  success  are  breadth  of  view, 
power  of  patient  thinking,  sound  judgment.  And  I 
have  insisted  that  the  great  object  of  wise  schemes  of 
education  is  to  train  the  mind  in  these  respects.  Now, 
these  powers  cannot  be  trained  till  a  person  is  nearly 
17 


258     COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

grown,  for  the  excellent  reason  that  not  until  then  have 
they  any  considerable  natural  development.  In  a  little 
child,  the  leading  faculty  is  imagination,  and  the  chief 
means  of  teaching  it  is  story-telling.  Everything  must 
be  put  into  that  form,  or,  at  least,  must  be  sweetened 
with  a  story.  If  we  do  not  tell  the  children  stories,  they 
will  make  some  for  themselves  and  tell  tliem  to  each 
other.  At  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve,  the  leading  faculty 
is  memory.  That  is  the  time  to  store  the  mind  with 
knowledge  of  facts,  explaining  where  it  is  not  too  diffi- 
cult, but  aiming  chiefly  to  lodge  the  facts  themselves 
permanently  in  the  memory.  But  judgment,  in  any 
high  and  broad  sense, — analysis,  generalization,  abstract 
thinking,  reasoning, — these  are,  as  a  rule,  not  much  de- 
veloped until  the  age  of  eighteen  or  twenty.  Of  course, 
then,  it  is  not  until  that  age,  as  a  rule,  that  we  can  begin 
to  give  those  high  mental  powers  any  effective  training. 
A  great  many  efforts  have  been  made  of  late  years  to 
have  boys  anticipate  the  studies  proper  only  to  com- 
parative maturity.  Children  of  a  dozen  years  are  found 
toiling  over  Evidences  of  Christianity,  Rhetoric,  English 
Syntax  —  subjects  which  they  cannot  possibly  under- 
stand. All  this  is  a  grievous  mistake,  though  it  is  a 
well-meant  effort  to  supply  a  felt  want.  These  things 
ought  to  be  learned,  and  others  of  the  same  sort ;  but 
tliey  can  be  learned,  not  at  the  beginning,  but  only 
towards  the  end  of  "the  teens."  Now  see  what  hap- 
pens. Our  boys  and  girls  go  to  school,  and  perhaps 
learn  well,  during  the  period  when  memory  predomi- 
nates, get  a  useful  knowledge  of  facts  (though  this  might 
be  much  better  managed  than  it  commonly  is),  but  just 


COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.    259 

when  they  reach  the  age  at  which  we  could  begin  to 
give  them  education  in  the  highest,  broadest  sense — 
education  that  would  really  prepare  them  for  the  duties 
of  life — they  break  away  ;  the  boys  plunge  head  foremost 
into  business,  and  the  girls — well,  they  quit  school ! 
Here  is  an  evil  most  lamentable  and  wide-spread.  Who 
trains  horses  that  way,  or  builds  houses,  or  railways,  or 
raises  crops — laboring  a  long  time  with  the  mere  prep- 
arations, and  stopping  short  just  at  the  time  when  the 
consummation  of  the  undertaking  comes  within  reach? 
What  we  call  "higher  education"  is  really  the  most 
practical  part  of  the  whole  process ;  and  yet  our  restless 
youths  and  our  thoughtless  parents  neglect  it,  just  be- 
cause, forsooth,  they  are  so  anxious  to  be  practical. 

But,  you  ask,  do  we  expect  all  the  young  men  of  the 
country  to  go  to  school  until  they  are  twenty-five  years 
old  ?  No,  and  we  do  not  expect  all  the  young  men  of 
the  country  to  be  highly  successful  in  business,  or  highly 
influential  and  useful,  as  citizens  or  as  Christians.  Higher 
education  is,  of  course,  not  possible  for  all.  Besides,  if 
college  studies  now  keep  many  till  the  age  of  twenty- 
five,  this  is  usually  because  our  preparatory  schools  and 
our  general  methods  of  training  children  have  been,  for 
the  most  part,  so  poor  and  unsatisfactory.  When  better 
ideas  are  diffused  throughout  society,  when  a  larger 
number  of  good  teachers  are  trained,  and  more  good 
schools  are  established,  then  most  of  our  competent 
young  men  will  be  able  to  complete  a  fair  course  of 
higher  education  by  the  time  they  are  twenty-one  or 
twenty-two. 

You  remind  me  of  another  difficulty,  that  there  is 


260    COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

need  of  some  early  training  for  business  itself.  Cer- 
tainly, one  who  is  to  be  a  farmer  ought  to  work  on  a 
farm  in  his  early  teens,  watching  every  detail  with  a 
boy's  sharp  observation,  and  learning  how  to  do  all 
kinds  of  work  himself;  and  he  who  is  to  be  a  merchant 
ought,  while  still  a  boy,  to  hop  counters  and  tie  bun- 
dles, to  keep  accounts,  and  observe  the  quality  of  goods 
and  the  tastes  of  customers.  But  this  can  be  managed 
by  putting  such  boys  to  work  on  Saturdays  and  in  the 
greater  part  of  vacation ;  and  perhaps,  also,  it  might  be 
well,  somewhere  between  thirteen  and  seventeen,  to  keep 
them  at  home  a  year,  and  make  them  buckle  down  to 
steady  labor.  I  could  tell  you  of  men  eminently  suc- 
cessful in  their  callings,  who  were  trained  in  just  this 
Avay,  with  advantage  to  their  health,  and  certainly  no 
damage  to  their  mental  improvement. 

And  yet  another  difficulty  occurs  to  you.  It  doesn't 
look  reasonable  that  young  fellows  so  different  in  turn 
of  mind,  and  in  their  proposed  callings,  as  the  students 
of  a  college  are,  should  all  be  put  through  exactly  the 
same  course  of  study.  But  remember,  that  the  object  is 
to  develop  and  discipline  faculties  which  all  intelligent 
youths  possess  to  some  considerable  extent,  and  which 
have  to  be  exercised  in  all  callings  alike.  Special  train- 
ing for  particular  piu'suits  may  be  distinct,  going  on 
partly  at  the  same  time  with,  and  partly  subsequent  to, 
this  general  training,  which  will  contribute  to  success  in 
any  kind  of  work.  Besides,  most  of  our  colleges  are  be- 
ginning to  provide  for  a  change  of  the  course,  by  making 
(^crtain  studies  elective,  or  even  by  making  the  whole 
course  elective,  so  that  the  studies  of  each  youth  may  be 


COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.     261 

more  or  less  adapted  to  his  peculiarities  of  mind,  prep- 
aration, or  destined  pursuit. 

OBJECTIONS   TO   COLLEGE   LIFE. 

But  there  is  no  use  in  talking,  you  say,  about  your 
son's  going  to  college.  It  is  too  expensive — you  can't 
afford  it.  Colleges  are  just  intended  for  rich  men's 
sons,  or  those  that  get  their  money  easy  in  some  way ; 
you  made  your  money  by  hard  work,  and  can't  afford 
to  spend  it  so  fast. 

Why,  the  very  object  of  college  endowments  is  to 
cheapen  education,  for  the  sake  of  those  who  are  not 
rich.  If  your  son  were  to  get  instruction  from  a  single 
one  of  these  select  professors,  with  his  talents  and  high 
scholarship,  it  would  cost  him  twice  as  much  a  year  as 
his  entire  college  fees.  Rich  men  could  employ  several 
such  instructors  if  they  chose,  but  you  and  I  could 
not.  And  if  our  sons  can  have  the  privilege  of  being 
taught  by  these  professors,  it  is  for  the  reason  that  a 
large  part  of  their  support  is  drawn  from  endowment ; 
and  usually  it  is  a  support  most  meagre  and  unworthy, 
when  we  consider  their  choice  abilities  and  severe  labors. 
In  fact,  college  education  is  one  of  the  cheapest  things 
in  the  country ;  and  we  who  are  comparatively  poor  get 
a  great  bargain  in  it,  a  first-rate  article  for  one-third  the 
cost. 

Ah  !  but  you  didn't  so  much  mean  the  tuition ;  it  is 
the  other  expenses.  Yes,  and  you  begin  with  counting 
all  that  is  spent  for  clothing,  and  forget  that  the  fellow 
would  spend  money  for  clothes  if  he  stayed  at  home. 
If   it   be   said   that   at   home   he   would  only   need  a 


262     COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

Sunday  suit,  and  could  wear  plain  and  cheap  clothes 
all  the  week,  I  answer,  so  he  can  at  college.  If  a  stu- 
dent's general  appearance  and  personal  habits  are  good, 
if  his  hair  and  his  hands,  his  boots  and  his  linen,  are 
always  scrupulously  clean,  and  the  rest  of  his  clothing, 
however  cheap  and  even  coarse,  is  well  brushed  and 
free  from  stains  and  spots,  then,  with  good  manners,  he 
will  be  accounted  a  thoroughly  genteel  young  man,  by 
all  those  whose  opinion  is  worth  regarding,  young  ladies 
included.  Forty  years  ago,  two  young  men  entered  the 
University  ^of  Virginia,  paying  their  way  with  money 
saved  from  teaching,  and  during  the  first  winter  wear- 
ing plain  jeans  coats  all  the  week,  among  those  aris- 
tocratic and  dressy  youngsters  from  the  Cotton  States. 
Both  found  hearty  welcome  in  the  professors'  families, 
and  formed  choice  friendships  among  the  students,  be- 
sides gaining  unsurpassed  academic  honors ;  and  one  of 
them  is  now  a  distinguished  educator  in  Virginia.  And 
to-day  there  are  students  in  great  number  at  our  colleges 
who  spend  scarcely  a  cent  more  on  their  clothing  than 
they  would  do  in  a  country  home,  and  yet  make  a  good 
appearance,  and  are  resj)ected  and  well  received  in 
society. 

As  to  the  board,  it  is  already  very  cheap  at  many 
colleges,  and  can  be  made  cheaper  still,  if  students 
choose  to  abstain  from  mere  luxuries,  and  set  their 
heads  on  economizing.  A  rapid  and  salutary  change  is 
going  on  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  It  used  to  be 
the  case  that  college  fashions  were  mainly  set  by  rich 
fellows,  who  went  to  college  simply  as  a  thing  proper  for 
a  gentleman's  son  to  do,  and  consequently  others  were 


COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.     263 

ashamed  to  show  their  poverty  by  living  plainly.  I  hope 
to  see  the  day  when,  as  in  the  German  cities,  a  student 
can  live  on  as  few  cents  a  day  as  he  pleases,  and  it  will 
be  nobody^s  business ;  when  not  only  those  of  moderate 
means,  like  your  son,  but  the  very  poor,  can  work  their 
way,  by  hard  struggles  and  various  helps  and  God's 
favor,  through  a  college  course.  So  it  was  centuries 
ago  in  Europe ;  so  it  is  now  in  Scotland,  in  Germany, 
and  to  some  extent  in  New  England.  The  present  head 
of  one  of  our  most  important  Baptist  institutions  stated 
in  my  presence  that  at  one  period  of  his  student  life  he 
lived  on  bread  and  molasses  for  a  considerable  time. 
Kingman  Nott,  when  at  the  academy,  lived  on  bread 
and  milk,  and  when  prices  rose,  then  on  bread  and  water, 
and  bought  them  with  money  made  by  sawing  wood. 
Some  English  noblemen  are  remembered  in  history  only 
by  the  fact  that,  when  students  at  Oxford,  they  got  their 
boots  blacked  by  a  charity  student,  named  George 
Whitefield.  Ho,  for  the  poor  young  men  !  Look  them 
out ;  call  them  forth  where  they  have  brains,  and  are 
cherishing  vague,  wild  longings  after  an  education  which 
seems  far  on  the  other  side  of  an  impassable  gulf;  help 
them  if  you  can,  show  them  how  to  help  themselves, 
and  stir  in  them  by  encouragement  that  high  resolution, 
which  in  the  young  and  gifted  laughs  at  impossibilities, 
and  conquers  the  world. 

But  after  all,  your  son  is  not  utterly  poor ;  and  when 
you  come  to  think  of  it,  college  education  may  be  so 
managed  as  not  to  be  very  expensive.  If,  through  his 
own  good  sense  and  your  good  influence,  he  is  disposed 
to  economy,  he  will  assuredly  find  plenty  of  students  at 


264    COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

the  present  day  to  keep  him  company,  and  students  who 
stand  high  both  in  the  lecture-room  and  in  society.  If 
once  you  made  up  your  mind  that  it  was  really  and  ex- 
ceedingly desirable  for  him  to  go  to  college,  you  know 
very  well  that  you  could  manage  to  provide  the  means. 
And  how  else,  O  thoughtful  and  loving  father,  can  you 
use  the  same  amount  of  money  so  much  for  his  advan- 
tage ?  Pray,  think  that  over.  A  college  education,  or 
a  thousand  dollars,  in  land  or  goods  or  cash — which 
would  be  most  profitable  to  him  as  he  enters  upon  active 
life? 

There  is  another  class  of  objections  which  some  make. 
I  know  not  whether  you  agree  with  them. 

They  say  that  at  college  the  young  man  is  very  apt 
to  form  vicious  habits  and  evil  companionships.  Now  I 
have  spent  most  of  my  active  life  in  connection  with,  or 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  colleges,  and  I  beg  to  ex- 
press the  full  conviction  that  a  young  man  is  safer,  as 
to  companionships  and  temptations  to  vice,  in  any  good 
college  than  in  the  average  home.  Of  course,  there  arc 
a  few  exceptional  homes  ;  I  speak  of  the  average,  of  the 
general  rule.  Some  young  men  will  get  into  bad 
courses  wherever  they  may  be.  All  the  good  influences 
at  college  cannot  prevent  it — nor,  if  they  stay  at  home, 
can  father  and  mother  and  sister  and  pastor  and  sweet- 
heart, all  combined,  keep  them  out  of  bad  company  and 
vicious  practices.  But  in  general,  I  repeat  it  earnestly, 
the  morals  of  the  average  student  are  safer  at  a  well- 
conducted  college  than  at  home.  Some  think  this  might 
be  so  if  the  college  were  at  a  retired  village,  but  not 
when  it  is  in  a  city ;  they  tremble  to  think  of  the  temp- 


COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.    265 

tations  of  a  city.  But  really  there  are  no  colleges  now 
at  retired  villages.  The  railways  that  bring  the  stu- 
dents can  bring  all  the  apparatus  of  vice,  and  keep  the 
students  in  easy  and  speedy  communication  with  the 
cities  themselves.  Well  may  we  tremble  at  the  tempta- 
tions to  which  our  boys  are  now  everywhere  exposed  ; 
but  when  they  are  nearly  grown,  repression  and  seclu- 
sion are  no  longer  possible ;  we  must  try  to  train  them 
to  sound  principles  and  right  habits  from  childhood, 
foster  in  them  vivid  recollections  of  a  home  where  they 
are  loved  and  prayed  for,  and  let  them  fight  their  battle. 
Remember,  too,  that  if  they  may  meet  evil  companions 
at  college,  they  will  assuredly  meet  many  among  the 
noblest  young  men  of  the  laud,  who  will  set  them  an 
example  of  true  manhood  and  gentlemanly  bearing,  and 
draw  them,  if  they  be  worthy  and  willing,  into  the  bonds 
of  high  and  inspiring  friendship. 

Others-  are  afraid  the  young  fellow  will  come  home 
with  "city  airs."  Perhaps  he  may,  if  he  was  born  a 
simpleton,  in  which  case  I  do  not  urge  sending  him  to 
college.  But  if  he  has  good  sense,  he  will  only  get 
something  of  refinement,  of  graceful  bearing  and  social 
ease,  and  power  of  agreeably  entertaining  others — will 
become  more  of  a  gentleman  in  his  manners  and  tone; 
and  will  not  that  be  an  advantage  to  him? 

A  grave  objection  with  many  excellent  people,  and 
one  having  the  appearance  of  good  ground,  is  that  if 
you  give  young  men  a  college  education,  they  will  "get 
above  business;"  they  will  want  to  engage  in  one  of 
the  professions.  Now,  something  of  this  sort  has  fre- 
quently happened ;  but  there  are  several  things  to  be 


266    COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOE  MEN  OF  BUSINESS. 

considered  about  it.  Sometimes  the  young  man  is  right 
in  turning  away  from  what  he  and  his  friends  had  con- 
templated ;  for  he  has  become  intelligently  conscious  of 
being  better  suited  to  some  other  pursuit.  In  other 
cases,  it  is  the  effect  of  those  wrong  notions  of  which 
we  have  been  speaking,  and  which  I  hope  you  will  use 
your  influence  to  correct;  he  thinks,  as  so  many  do, 
that  college  education  is  of  no  use  to  a  business  man, 
and  perhaps  foolishly  imagines  business  pursuits  to  be 
less  honorable  and  less  worthy  of  his  intelligence  and 
cultivation  than  some  profession.  But  the  principal 
reason  for  such  occurrences  is  that  we  have  hitherto 
had  a  very  inadequate  supply  of  well-educated  teachers 
and  other  professional  men ;  the  young  man  sees  this, 
and  his  sense  of  the  value  of  education  makes  him  seek 
more  directly  to  propagate  it.  When  high  cultivation 
becomes  more  common,  and  correct  ideas  more  gene- 
rally diffused,  this  evil  will  be,  for  the  most  part,  cor- 
rected. 

"But  suppose  my  son  doesnH  want  to  go  to  college, 
what  then?"  If  he  needs  it,  if  you  see  that  he  would 
be  greatly  profited  by  it,  what  is  your  duty?  Argue 
with  him,  I  should  say,  exhort  him,  plead  with  him, 
and  if  he  is  still  unwilling,  mahe  him  go.  What,  you 
cannot  control  a  boy  of  sixteen  or  eighteen !  Then  you 
haven't  trained  him  properly,  and  it  is  all  the  more 
important  that  you  should  get  some  professors  to  help 
you  train  him,  before  it  is  too  late.  Yes,  make  him  go. 
And  the  time  shall  be  when  he  will  come  to  you,  in 
your  old  age,  or  perhaps  come  and  stand  by  your 
grave,  and  tell  his  gratitude  that  you  did  not  leave  him 


COLLEGE  EDUCATION  FOR  MEN  OF  BUSINESS.    267 

to  the  follies  of  his  youth;  that  by  all  the  power  of 
parental  love  and  parental  authority  you  constrained 
him  to  that  which  has  been  such  a  blessing  to  him 
through  life.  Oh !  the  dear  memories  that  come  up  in 
saying  this  of  a  father  who  did  not  need  to  constrain, 
but  who  broke  up  a  pleasant  home,  and  spent  his  last 
years  in  most  uncongenial  employment  and  amid  pecu- 
niary losses,  solely  that  his  son  might  receive  the  edu- 
cation for  which  he  had  not  dared  to  hope.  How  that 
son  thanks  him  more  and  more  every  year — how  he 
thanks  God  for  such  a  wise  and  noble  father. 


XVL 

EDUCATION   IN  ATHENS  * 

THERE  is  nothing  more  natural  or  appropriate,  at 
these  annual  meetings,  than  that  our  thoughts 
should  mainly  dwell  upon  topics  connected  with  edu- 
cation. Not  only  must  the  very  atmosphere  we  breathe, 
all  the  associations  of  the  place  and  the  occasion,  recall 
the  lively  interest  which  years  ago  we  felt  in  this  sub- 
ject, but  our  experience  amid  the  activities  of  life  must 
be  continually  impressing  us  more  deeply  with  the 
importance  of  obtaining  the  most  thorough  mental  cul- 
ture and  the  most  complete  mental  furniture.  And  if 
gratefully  recognizing  the  benefits  received  from  our 
own  early  training,  we  cannot  but  desire  that  others 
may  enjoy  yet  more  abundant  privileges.  We  gather 
again,  those  who  have  wandered  farthest  and  those  who 
have  remained  nearest,  around  the  domestic  hearth ;  we 
look  with  pride  upon  these  younger  brothers  wdio  fill 
now  the  places  that  once  were  ours,  and  far  from  feel- 
ing any  jealousy  of  their  perhaps  superior  attainments, 
far  from  cherishing  any  aristocratic  notion  of  rights  of 
primogeniture  in  education,  we  can  heartily  wish  that, 
as  is  wont  to  happen  in  this  democratic  and  growing 
country,  our  cherishing  mother  may  be  able  to  provide 

*  Address  before  the  Society  of  Alumni  of  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, 1856. 

268 


EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS.  269 

the  best  advantages  for  her  younger  sons.  Whatever, 
then,  is  related  to  education  in  general,  whatever  prom- 
ises to  cast  the  least  ray  of  light  upon  the  higher  edu- 
cation among  ourselves,  as  it  is  and  as  it  ought  to  be, 
can  hardly  fail,  I  have  thought,  to  be  for  us  a  welcome 
theme. 

Now  the  educational  methods  and  machinery  of  cul- 
tivated modern  nations  have  received  large  attention, 
since  they  furnish  illustrative  examples  which  are  most 
nearly  parallel  and  models  which  are  most  easily  imi- 
tated. But  it  has  appeared  to  me  that  something  at 
least  might  be  learned  from  considering  the  methods 
employed  and  the  material  possessed  among  the  fore- 
most nations  of  antiquity.  A  very  little  reflection  suf- 
ficed to  show  that  one  particular  people  of  the  ancient 
world  afford  not  only  what  is  most  interesting,  but 
almost  all  that  can  be  instructive;  and  for  the  sake  of 
definiteness,  it  seemed  best  to  confine  the  view  to  a  sin- 
gle leading  city  and  a  comparatively  limited  period. 
I  propose  to  speak,  therefore,  of  the  higher  education 
in  Athens  during  the  period  of  its  greatest  prosperity, 
say  the  century  from  about  450  to  about  350  B.  C.  It 
is  a  very  brief,  and  I  know  a  very  imperfect  account, 
which  alone  I  can  expect  to  give;  but  I  have  hoped  it 
would  possess  some  interest,  and  might  perhaps  suggest 
some  profitable  reflection. 

A  problem  presents  itself  here  for  our  solution.  The 
Greeks,  and  especially  the  Athenians  of  this  age,  have 
left  monuments  of  mental  power  which  the  world  can 
never  cease  to  admire.  Though  ignorance  may  some- 
times sneer,  and  self-complacent  modernism  may  some- 


270  EDUCATION  IN  ATHENS. 

times  assail,  yet  one  need  not  be  a  mere  praiser  of  the 
past  to  assert  that  the  productions  of  the  Athenian 
mind  have  hardly  ever  been  surpassed,  and  not  very 
often  been  equalled,  by  the  noblest  kindred  works  of 
modern  times.  Whence  came  this  wonderful  power? 
What  was  there,  in  the  influences  to  which  they  were 
subjected,  corresponding  to  these  great  results?  Now 
if  a  distinction  be  made  between  what  we  call  education 
in  the  technical  sense  and  those  more  general  influences 
which  accomplish  so  much  in  developing  the  mind  and 
directing  as  well  as  stimulating  its  activity,  then  it  is  to 
be  observed  that  these  last  were  perhaps  more  potent 
among  the  Athenians  than  any  other  nation  of  the 
world.  If  there  be  an  exception,  it  is  in  our  own  peo- 
ple; and,  indeed,  the  most  superficial  observer  must 
always  be  struck  by  the  numerous  points  of  resem- 
blance, in  this  respect,  between  the  Athenians  and  our- 
selves. It  is  very  difficult,  in  either  case,  fully  to 
estimate  the  powerful  effect  of  the  influences  in  ques- 
tion. The  peculiar  genius  of  the  race — its  enthusiasm, 
its  restless  activity,  its  self-reliance — must  form  an  im- 
portant element.  The  working  of  their  democratic 
institutions, — the  fact  that  every  citizen,  besides  fre- 
quently attending  the  popular  assembly  and  having  a 
voice  in  the  direction  of  national  affairs,  so  as  to  feel 
the  dignity  and  responsibility  of  his  position,  was  called 
to  take  part  very  largely  in  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, sitting  frequently  in  the  immense  juries  of  from 
five  to  fifteen  hundred,  and  required,  whenever  a  cause 
of  his  own  was  on  trial,  to  appear  not  simply  by  coun- 
sel, but  in  his  own  person,  and  plead  for  himself, — all 


EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS.  271 

this  would  be  an  element  of  almost  incalculable  import- 
ance. And  the  circumstances  of  the  age  were  not  only 
favorable,  but  stimulating.  Commerce  and  tribute, 
during  the  years  which  mainly  gave  character  to  this 
period,  filled  Athens  with  wealth,  so  that  men  possessed 
the  leisure  and  the  means  necessary  to  intellectual  pur- 
suits. The  yet  fresh  memories  of  that  great  struggle, 
in  which  their  fathers  had  shown  such  bravery  in  bat- 
tle and  such  heroical  fortitude  in  suffering,  in  order  to 
maintain  their  liberties  against  the  terrible  power  of  the 
Persian ;  the  frequent  successes  and  then  maddening 
losses,  and  the  final  and  almost  hopeless  ruin  which 
made  up  the  history  of  the  Peloponnesian  war;  the 
anxiety  and  strife  connected  with  the  Theban  and 
Macedonian  supremacy, — these  made  it  throughout  an 
age  of  excitement.  But  after  making  the  largest  allow- 
ance for  the  unusual  power  of  these  general  influences, 
one  cannot  resist  the  conviction,  that  there  must  have 
been  something  in  their  education,  strictly  so  called, 
corresponding  to  the  wonderful  excellence  of  their  in- 
tellectual achievements.  We  must  look  into  the  facts, 
so  far  as  they  have  come  down  to  us,  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain whether  this  conviction  is  just. 

If  one  should  begin  by  examining  the  scattered  ex- 
tant allusions  to  elementary  education  in  Athens,  he 
must  be  struck  by  the  extraordinary  attention  which 
was  bestowed  upon  the  subject,  and  the  very  general 
acquaintance,  among  the  citizens,  with  the  elements  of 
knowledge.  Great  philosophers  constantly  interested 
themselves  in  devising  plans  for  the  better  conduct  of 
elementary  instruction.      Schools  for  the  young  were 


272  EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS. 

always  established  by  private  enterprise,  but  there  were 
special  laws  having  reference  to  them,  even  from  the 
time  of  Solon,  and  special  supervisors  for  their  control, 
appointed  by  the  State.  We  read  in  Plutarch's  Themis- 
tocles,  that  when  the  women  and  children  of  Athens  fled 
to  Troezene  at  the  time  of  the  Persian  invasion,  a  part 
of  the  hospitality  with  which  they  were  entertained  was, 
that  theTroezenians  paid  persons  to  teach  the  children.  If 
the  story  can  be  relied  on,  it  certainly  affords  a  very 
remarkable  proof  of  the  interest  felt,  by  the  exiles  and 
their  hosts,  in  the  constant  instruction  of  the  young. 
And,  this  being  the  case,  one  is  not  surprised  to  find 
that  at  the  period  of  which  we  speak,  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  the  citizens,  in  the  proper  sense  of  that 
term,  appear  to  have  been  able  to  read  and  write.  To 
notice  no  other  evidence,  the  fact  is  proven  by  the 
introduction,  as  early  as  510  B.C.,  of  the  remarkable 
institution  known  as  the  Ostracism.  It  would  have 
been  folly  to  resort  to  a  secret  ballot,  in  order  tem- 
porarily to  banish  one  or  the  other  of  two  powerful 
political  rivals  and  thus  secure  political  tranquillity,  if 
any  large  number  of  the  citizens  had  been  dependent 
upon  others  to  prepare  their  ballots,  and  thus  liable  to 
be  imposed  upon  by  designing  partisans. 

With  reference  now  to  the  higher  education,  there  are 
two  departments  of  inquiry,  the  supply  of  instructors, 
and  the  material  of  instruction. 

Of  instructors,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  there 
was  a  much  larger  number  than  the  cursory  reader  of 
Greek  history  and  literature  might  suppose.  There 
were  many  included  under  the  general  name  of  philoso- 


EDUCATION    IN   ATHENS.  273 

phers.  Among  these,  every  one  will  think  of  Socrates 
and  Plato,  as  belonging  to  this  age.  Though  the  former 
never  constituted  regular  classes,  yet  we  know  that, 
young  men  w^ere  accustomed  to  attach  themselves  to; 
him,  and  to  follow  his  daily  wanderings  in  the  agora 
and  the  gymnasium,  conversing  with  him  themselves, 
and  listening  to  his  conversations  with  others ;  so  that 
besides  the  general  influence  he  exerted,  in  awakening 
and  stimulating  the  minds  of  almost  the  entire  com- 
munity, there  was  always  a  circle  of  those  who  might  be 
considered,  in  a  strict  sense,  his  pupils  in  philosophy. 
Plato  held  conversations  and  lectures  in  the  Academy, 
to  which  all  could  listen  who  chose.  We  read  of  him 
as  on  one  occasion  delivering  a  lecture  in  the  Peirseeus 
on  the  Good ;  and  one  is  more  sorry  than  surprised  to 
find  that  his  audience  gradually  wasted  away — the  phil- 
osopher had  chosen  a  subject  too  abstract  for  the  popu- 
lar taste.  In  addition  to  these  public  labors,  he  had 
a  band  of  disciples  who  regularly  assembled  in  his  own 
garden  at  Colonus,  there  to  partake  of  a  frugal  meal, 
and  discourse  together  on  subjects  of  philosophy.  There 
are  other  famous  philosophers  of  this  age,  who  resided 
at  Athens,  and  taught  their  peculiar  opinions.  Anax- 
agoras  is  stated  to  have  been  the  instructor  of  Euripides 
and  Pericles,  and  many  others  of  the  most  eminent  men 
of  the  time.  Zeno  of  Elea  is  recorded  to  have  spent 
some  years  in  Athens,  unfolding  the  doctrines  of  his 
philosophy  to  such  men  as  Pericles  and  Callias,  from 
the  latter  of  whom  he  received  for  his  instructions  a 
large  sum  of  money,  and  also  to  the  youthful  Socrates. 
The  accomplished  and  excellent  Democritus  would 
18 


274  EDUCATION  IN  ATHENS. 

seem  to  have  sojourned  there  a  while,  and  even  casual 
intercourse  for  a  limited  period  with  a  man  of  his  ex- 
traordinary attainments  and  beautiful  character,  must 
have  been  a  means  of  marked  improvement  to  the  rising 
young  men  of  the  day.  And  may  we  not  take  it  for 
granted  that  there  were  many  others,  citizens  and  stran- 
gers, addicted  to  philosophical  studies,  and  accustomed 
to  give  at  least  informal  instruction  to  the  young,  whose 
names  have  not  come  down  to  us?  They  who  have 
lived  in  history  were  the  men  of  originality,  the  men  of 
splendid  powers,  the  men  who  introduced  new  doctrines 
in  philosophy,  or  wrote  valuable  treatises  on  opinions 
already  current;  must  there  not  have  been  a  much 
more  numerous  class,  just  one  degree  inferior,  who  were 
well  acquainted  with  all  the  teachings  of  the  diflPerent 
schools,  perhaps  warmly  attached  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  Ionian  school  of  Pythagoras  or  the  Eleatics,  and 
anxious  to  win  over  every  young  man  of  promise  to 
their  own  opinions  ?  These  would  often  give  far  more 
information  as  to  the  true  nature  and  extent  of  the  vari- 
ous systems  than  the  more  original  thinkers,  who  would 
commonly  allude  to  the  tenets  of  their  predecessors,  as 
Socrates  does  to  those  of  Anaxagoras,  only  for  purposes 
of  refutation  or  ridicule.  Thus  we  may  see  that  the 
class  called  philosophers  formed  a  numerous  corps,  so  to 
speak,  of  able  and  active  instructors. 

Again,  there  were  many  persons  who  made  teaching 
their  occupation.  A  man  who  had  gained  some  reputa- 
tion, perhaps,  as  master  of  an  elementary  school,  or  had 
become  specially  fond  of  a  particular  subject,  would 
undertake  to  give  instruction  to  young  men,  separately 


EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS.  275 

or  in  classes.  We  find  incidental  allusions  to  some  of 
these,  as  teachers  of  music  (in  the  modern  sense),  of 
geometry,  of  oratory,  &c.  It  is  plain  from  the  manner 
of  allusion  that  they  were  numerous;  but  only  one  here 
and  there  is  known  to  posterity,  from  his  good  fortune 
in  having  some  pupil  who  became  famous.  As  many 
an  humble  English  clergyman  has  a  name  in  history 
from  his  being  the  early  tutor  of  a  great  statesman,  as  a 
plain  New  England  schoolmaster  will  be  remembered 
because  of  his  connection  with  Webster,  so  there  is  now 
and  then  to  be  found,  from  among  the  old  Athenian 
instructors,  some  name  which  had  floated  down  the  all^ 
engulfing  tide  of  time  only  because  attached  to  the 
ever-buoyant,  imperishable  names  of  Pericles  or  Plato, 
of  Aristotle  or  Demosthenes.  It  is  a  thought  not 
strange  to  the  bosom  of  any  reflecting  instructor,  a 
thought  tending  to  humility,  and  yet  to  honest  pride  in 
the  true  power  of  his  calling,  that  centuries  to  come 
men  may  recognize  as  his  chief  claim  to  their  gratitude, 
the  influence  he  exerted  upon  another ;  yea,  that  highly 
and  deservedly  honored  as  he  is  now,  posterity  may 
remember  him  at  all,  only  for  having  been  the  teacher 
of  one  who  sits  now,  a  modest  lad,  scarce  noticed  among 
his  pupils. 

Perhaps  the  most  influential  of  these  professional 
teachers,  and  certainly  those  who  have  the  largest  place 
in  history,  are  the  so-called  Sophists.  Among  the 
numerous  instances  in  which  recent  historical  research 
has  overturned  received  opinions,  there  are  few  more 
striking  than  the  inquiry  which  Mr.  Grote  has  made,  in 
his  unrivalled  history,  into  the  true  character  of  these 


276  EDUCATION   IN  ATHENS. 

celebrated  men ;  and  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  state  the 
conclusions  he  has  reached  and  the  outline  of  his 
argument.  Doubtless,  in  attacking  the  popular  notion, 
he  has  gone  somewhat  to  the  other  extreme.  We  have 
more  than  one  remarkable  case  of  this  among  the  dis- 
tinguished historians  of  the  present  generation.  Ever 
since  the  days  of  Niebuhr  it  has  been  the  fashion  to 
assail  all  established  historical  opinions ;  and  wherever 
plausible  grounds  can  be  found  for  questioning,  there  at 
once  to  reject.  Pleased  at  detecting  the  errors  of  ancient 
authorities,  many  a  writer  seems  to  forget  that  himself 
can  err  in  the  conclusions  drawn  from  their  statements ; 
delighted  to  expose  the  prejudiced  views  of  previous  his- 
torians, he  may  yield,  half  unconsciously,  to  prejudices  of 
his  own.  When  weary  of  the  misrepresentation  and  gen- 
eral injustice  which  so  frequently  attach  to  contempora- 
neous judgments,  we  often  console  ourselves  by  thinking 
of  the  future,  and  '^the  impartial  voice  of  history.'' 
Yet  it  is  but  a  poor  approximation  to  impartiality  that 
is  ever  actually  found.  No  achromatic  arrangement  has 
been  devised,  whereby  the  historian,  as  he  looks  into  the 
distant  past,  may  be  able  to  see  things  precisely  in  their 
true  colors. 

But  to  return.  The  term  sophist,  which  is  for  us  so 
opprobrious,  and  which  from  the  days  of  Plato  began 
to  be  confined  to  a  particular  set  of  men,  originally 
denoted,  in  the  general  and  honorable  sense,  a  wise  man, 
a  man  of  talent.  It  was  applied  to  poets  and  statesmen, 
and  constantly  used  by  Herodotus  in  speaking  of  the 
"seven  sages."  But  where  general  ignorance  prevails, 
there  will  always  be  a  secret  dislike  to  the  few  men  of 


EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS.  277 

superior  attainmeuts  and  abilities,  which  gradually  be- 
comes more  decided  till  it  is  avowed.  Thus  by  degrees 
there  came  to  be  associated  with  the  term  sophist,  a 
certain  invidious  feeling.  Then  other  words,  such  as 
philosopher,  were  preferred  for  the  good  sense,  and 
sophist  became  the  stock  term  of  reproach  applied  to 
any  person,  who  possessed  acknowledged  power  and  was 
eminent  as  a  teacher,  but  for  whatever  reason  was  per- 
sonally unpopular.  Thus  Aristophanes,  in  the  "  Clouds,'' 
called  Socrates  a  sophist;  and  in  a  subsequent  age, 
"  Timon,  who  bitterly  satirized  all  the  philosophers, 
designated  them  all,  including  Plato  and  Aristotle,  by 
the  general  name  of  sophists.^'  Now  Socrates,  and  still 
more  Plato,  greatly  disliking  the  eminent  professional 
teachers  of  their  time,  have  succeeded,  by  their  justly 
powerful  influence,  in  fastening  upon  them  this  odious 
name.  The  cause  of  their  dislike  was  two-fold.  The 
men  in  question  taught  for  pay.  Of  course,  those  of 
them  who  became  most  celebrated  would  at  times 
receive  high  pay  ;  and  in  some  cases  they  went  from  one 
city  to  another,  where  there  was  a  prospect  of  obtaining 
large  sums  for  their  instructions.  The  result  would  be, 
that  these  ablest  men  commonly  taught  only  the  wealthy. 
All  this  was  extremely  repugnant  to  the  notions  of  the 
two  great  philosophers.  Socrates  held  that  the  relation 
between  preceptor  and  pupil  must  be  like  that  of  inti- 
mate friends,  or  even  of  lovers ;  and  that  this  could  not 
possibly  be  the  case,  unless  the  instruction  were  gratui- 
tous. With  our  modern  ideas  and  experience,  we  should 
of  course  utterly  dissent  from  this  philosophic  fancy. 
True,  there  is  still  a  certain  unwillingness  to  see  men 


278  EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS. 

receive  for  the  duties  of  this  profession  a  compensation 
at  all  approaching  to  equality  with  that  which  the  same 
ability  and  attainment  and  devotion  might  secure  in 
some  other  calling;  but  we  do  not  require  them  to 
teach  altogether  for  love.  We  do  not  expect  a  profound 
and  accomplished  man,  every  day  and  all  the  day  long, 
to  leave  his  home  to  Xantippean  care,  and,  poorly  clad 
and  with  scanty  fare,  to  wander  among  the  people,  giving 
instruction  to  all  who  might  desire  it.  Not  even  to 
escape  the  horrors  of  a  home  like  that  of  Socrates, 
nor  to  have  the  exquisite  pleasure  of  proving  other 
people  less  wise  than  themselves,  could  men  be  expected 
to  lead  such  a  life  of  privation  and  penury.  In  this  re- 
spect, then,  the  prejudice  against  the  teachers  called 
Sophists,  was  certainly  unjust. 

The  other  ground  of  dislike  was  the  peculiar  character 
of  their  teachings,  as  contrasted  with  those  of  Plato  and 
his  great  master.  Socrates  was  a  moral  reformer,  Plato 
a  splendid  social  theorizer,  proposing  to  re-model  society 
altogether ;  while  the  persons  they  stigmatize  undertook 
merely  to  prepare  young  men  for  performing  their  duties 
as  citizens,  for  achieving  success  and  reputation  in 
Athens  as  it  was.  How  much  soever  we  may  admire 
the  doctrines  of  the  philosophers,  we  cannot  account  the 
latter  to  have  been  in  itself  an  unworthy  task.  There 
is  no  proof  that  the  ethical  precepts  they  inculcated 
were  immoral ;  all  the  fragments  which  remain  are  of 
an  opposite  tendency.  By  the  discipline  they  gave,  and 
the  knowledge  they  imparted,  their  pupils  acquired  a 
power  which  certainly  could  be  used  for  maintaining  the 
wrong  as  well  as  the  right ;  but  in  cases  w^here  such  per- 


EDUCATION   IN    ATHENS.  279 

version  occurred,  it  was  no  more  an  argument  against 
their  teachers,  than  was  the  misconduct  of  Alcibiades  a 
proof,  as  so  strenuously  urged,  of  some  corrupting  ten- 
dency in  the  teachings  of  Socrates.  It  may  be  that  in 
training  the  young  men  for  skill  in  discussion  and  effec- 
tive oratory^  they  sometimes  adopted  the  mistaken  plan 
of  teaching  them  to  defend  the  weaker  side  and  argue  in 
favor  of  what  was  known  to  be  untrue ;  but  it  cannot  be 
shown  that  their  instructions  had  any  direct  and  pur- 
posed tendency  to  confound  moral  distinctions.  The 
accusation  that  their  pupils  were  trained  to  "  make  the 
worse  appear  the  better  reason,"  from  which  especially 
has  come  the  modern  use  of  the  word  sophist,  was  made 
also  against  Socrates,  and  as  he  himself  remarks,  was 
the  charge  constantly  made  against  persons  devoted  to 
philosophy.  And  whatever  reproach  may  attach  to  a 
readiness  to  defend  either  side  of  a  cause,  it  must  be 
borne  by  one  of  the  most  learned  and  honored  professions 
of  both  ancient  and  modern  times. 

It  may  be  concluded,  then,  that  we  have  no  evidence 
that  there  was  anything  corrupting  in  the  influence  of 
these  much-abused  men.  And  certainly  the  general 
effect  of  their  instructions  was  very  great.  Thoroughly 
acquainted  with  all  the  learning  of  the  age,  devoting  all 
their  energies  to  the  instruction,  for  the  time  being,  of  a 
few  select  individuals,  Protagoras,  Gorgias  and  their 
compeers  were  educators  of  no  mean  order.  As  to 
public  speaking,  some  of  them  appear  to  have  taught 
the  analysis  of  a  discourse  into  its  parts,  with  various 
practical  rules  for  the  proper  management  of  each  ;  and 
this  was  a  great  advance  upon  all  previous  treatment, 


280  EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS. 

and  a  necessary  preparation  for  the  work  of  the  great 
master  of  rhetoric.  And  they  could  add  to  their  precept 
the  example  of  an  elaborate  and  ornate  style  of  oratory 
which  was  not  without  its  power,  and  for  a  time  became 
very  popular.  Bad  taste  in  this  respect  was  perhaps  the 
greatest  fault  of  their  teachings.  Such  a  style  was  the 
very  opposite  of  that  beautiful  simplicity  and  directness, 
that  absence  of  ail  artificial  ornament,  for  which  Aristotle 
contended,  which  Demosthenes  so  strikingly  exemplified, 
and  which  forms  the  chief  charm  of  all  the  better 
Grecian  literature. 

Upon  the  whole,  it  must  hs  evident  that,  at  the  period 
of  which  we  speak,  Athens  abounded  in  men  who  occu- 
pied themselves  as  instructors  in  the  higher  education. 
Indeed,  we  know  that  from  every  part  of  Greece  and  the 
colonies,  men  of  ability  and  ambition  flocked  to  this 
great  city,  where  their  literary  tastes  would  find  sym- 
pathy and  their  labors  reward,  and  the  approbation  of 
whose  citizens  would  constitute  the  highest  meed  of 
fame.  We  learn,  too,  that  men  were  accustomed  to  send 
their  sons  from  distant  cities  to  Athens  to  be  educated  ; 
so  that  already  the  city  began  to  be,  what  in  the  age  of 
Cicero  it  had  fully  become,  the  University  of  the 
World. 

The  places  at  which  instruction  was  commonly  given 
were  peculiar.  When  the  hour  of  noon  was  fully  past, 
and  the  business  of  the  agora  completed,  almost  all  the 
men  of  leisure  in  the  city  might  have  been  seen  taking 
tlieir  way  without  the  walls,  to  one  or  another  of  the 
three  great  Gymnasia.  Some  of  these  went  to  the  bath, 
others  to  participate  in,  or  witness,  the  gymnastic  exer- 


EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS.  281 

cises,  while  many  others  tarried  in  the  peristyle.  This 
outer  court  of  the  Gymnasium  consisted  of  a  spacious 
lawn  surrounded  by  buildings.  On  three  of  its  sides 
were  arcades  with  large  halls,  many  of  them  open  to  the 
sky,  and  having  stone  benches,  running  along  the  walls, 
or  arranged  in  a  semi-circular  form.  In  these  numerous 
public  halls,  men  would  seat  themselves  for  conversa- 
tion, and  here  might  be  found  many  a  philosopher  or 
professor,  with  a  band  of  pupils  around  him,  and  per- 
haps a  crowd  of  listeners  near,  engaged  in  earnest 
dialogue  or  lecture.  When  weary  of  formal  lecture- 
room  instruction  they  would  wander  forth  among  the 
shade-trees  of  the  lawn,  conversing  still  upon  the  subject 
which  had  occupied  them  before.  Socrates,  if  we  may 
judge  from  his  general  course,  probably  frequented  all 
the  gymnasia  in  turn ;  though  there  appears  to  have 
been  some  one  place  where  he  was  most  commonly  to 
be  found,  and  which  Aristophanes  humorously  called 
Socrates'  thinking-shop.  Two  of  the  great  gymnasia 
have  become  famous  as  the  chosen  resort  of  Plato  and 
of  Aristotle ;  and  every  little  palaestra  seems  to  have 
been  employed  for  the  same  purpose,  and  often  appro- 
priated by  some  particular  instructor.  Besides,  teachers 
of  every  class  frequently  gathered  their  pupils  and 
friends  at  their  own  houses,  or  at  the  residence  of  some 
person  of  literary  tastes,  and  there  spent  the  hours  in 
familiar  conversation  and  at  times  in  regular  instruc- 
tion. 

But  what  formed  the  subject  of  these  conversations 
and  lectures?  What  educational  material  did  the 
Greeks  of  this  age  possess?     W^hat  progress  had  they 


282  EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS. 

already  made  in  the  several  departments  of  knowledge  ? 
To  this  inquiry  we  turn.  Instead  of  pausing  to  explain 
the  peculiar  phraseology  which  they  employed,  it  will 
be  more  convenient  to  use  the  modern  sub-divisions  and 
terms. 

With  tlie  most  remarkable  properties  of  Numbers, 
and  the  processes  which  admit  of  being  performed  upon 
them,  the  Greeks  of  this  period  had  made  considerable 
acquaintance.  The  fanciful  theory  of  Pythagoras  and 
his  followers,  that  all  things  have  their  origin  in  numer- 
ical relations,  that  every  physical  existence  and  every 
mental  attribute  is  due  to  some  combination  of  numbers, 
would  naturally  lead  them  to  investigate  in  that  direc- 
tion with  the  greatest  diligence.  Besides  those  several 
operations  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  arithmetic,  they 
seem  to  have  possessed  methods  of  extracting  the  square 
and  cube  root,  and  to  have  been  familiar  with  the  theory 
of  arithmetical  and  geometrical  proportions  and  pro- 
gressions. The  elements  of  arithmetic  were  carefully 
taught  in  the  schools  for  boys ;  and  its  higher  questions 
appear  to  have  awakened  interest  and  received  large 
attention  among  the  most  cultivated  men. 

Of  Geometry  they  knew  much  more.  Every  one  is 
aware  that  our  modern  treatises  on  synthetic  geometry 
contain,  to  say  the  least,  no  very  great  improvements 
upon  the  work  of  an  old  Greek.  It  is  true  that  Euclid 
wrote  considerably  later  than  the  period  we  are  contem- 
plating (for  it  is  now  settled  that  he  was  a  diiferent 
person  from  Euclides  of  Megara,  the  pupil  of  Socrates), 
l)ut  we  might  be  sure,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
that  a  treatise  so  complete  as  his  Elements  cannot  have 


EDUCATION    IN   ATHENS.  283 

been  the  creation  of  a  single  mind.  And  in  fact  there 
is  abundant  evidence  that  Geometry  had  been  largely 
studied  from  the  earliest  times,  especially  from  the  time 
of  Pythagoras,  and  that  enough  was  known  before 
the  days  of  Plato  to  prepare  for  his  reputed  discovery 
of  some  of  the  properties  of  the  conic  sections.  Some- 
what earlier  than  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  B.C. 
(460)  we  read  of  a  systematic  treatise  on  Geometry,  pre- 
pared by  Hippocrates  of  Chios,  and  similar  works  are 
ascribed  to  later  authors.  Plato  insisted  very  much  on 
the  importance  of  this  science,  not  only  for  practical, 
but  for  educational  purposes,  and  (according  to  the 
familiar  story)  refused  to  admit  any  one  into  the  inner 
circle  of  his  philosophical  pupils,  who  was  not  a  Geom- 
eter. When  in  his  old  age  he  was  invited  to  visit  and 
instruct  the  younger  Dionysius  at  Syracuse,  he  set  the 
monarch  his  first  lessons  in  Geometry.  Thus  it  appears, 
that  during  this  age  geometrical  studies  were  pursued 
with  great  zeal,  and  rapid  advances  were  continually 
made  even  in  the  higher  departments  of  the  science, 
while  there  existed  compends  for  elementary  instruction. 
Astronomy  had  likewise  become  a  favorite  subject. 
There  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  story 
that  Thales  predicted  an  eclipse  of  the  sun ;  of  course 
it  must  have  been  by  some  empirical  method.  In  the 
sixth  century  B.C.,  the  age  of  Anaximander,  there  arc 
said  to  have  been  instruments  for  determining  the  time 
of  solstices  and  equinoxes;  and  as  early  as  432  B.C. 
the  golden  period  was  devised  by  Meton.  They  had 
divided  the  visible  heavens  into  constellations,  and 
marked  out  a  Zodiac,  which  is  still  retained.     Accurate 


284  EDUCATION  IN  ATHENS. 

observations  upon  the  motions  of  the  planets,  though 
five  of  them  were  so  familiarly  known,  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  made  till  a  somewhat  later  period.  But 
already  there  were  distinguished  Geometers  who  taught 
something  of  astronomy,  and  whose  instructions  came 
to  be  in  great  request ;  and  many  minds  were  busy  with 
astronomical  inquiries.  The  clear  atmosphere  of  Attica 
was  very  favorable  for  watching  the  heavenly  bodies ; 
and  one  or  another  of  the  surrounding  mountains  might 
well  serve,  as  Lycabettus  was  used  by  Meton,  for  an 
observatory.  In  other  branches  of  Physical  Science 
very  little  was  known  that  we  should  account  satis- 
factory or  valuable.  A  spirit  of  inquiry  had  beeu 
awakened,  and  miscellaneous  observations  were  made  in 
every  direction,  which  doubtless  aided  in  furnishing 
material  for  the  numerous  and  valuable  works  of  Aris- 
totle upon  physical  subjects,  as,  for  instance,  upon 
Natural  History.  When  we  find  the  persons  composing 
the  so-called  Ionian  school,  from  Thales  to  Anaxagoras 
and  onward,  spoken  of  as  natural  philosophers,  we 
must  understand  little  more  than  that  they  occupied 
themselves  with  general  physical  speculations.  Uni- 
versal science  had  not  yet  been  divided  into  various 
distinct  departments ;  indeed,  the  making  of  such  a 
division  would  require  no  small  previous  knowledge, 
even  as  one  who  is  preparing  a  discourse  has  gone  far 
towards  mastering  his  subject  when  he  has  fairly  marked 
out  its  natural  divisions.  Looking  at  the  universe  as  a 
whole,  and  influenced  by  that  desire  for  unity,  which 
finds  its  true-  satisfaction  in  the  idea  of  a  great  First 
Cause,  the  earlier  Greek  philosophers  were  constantly 


EDUCATION    IN   ATHENS.  285 

seeking  some  simple  primordial  principle,  which  would 
account  for  the  origin  of  all  existing  things.  When 
some  of  them  taught  that  this  principle  is  one  of  the 
more  subtile  forms  of  matter,  as  water  or  air  or  fire,  it 
was  not  pure  a  priori  speculation ;  but  they  seem  to 
have  always  observed  at  least  a  small  number  of  facts, 
and  upon  these  built  their  theory.*  So  that  we  have 
here  only  an  extreme  result  of  that  tendency  to  hasty 
generalization,  and  then  unwarranted  inference,  which, 
in  some  departments  of  physical  science,  is  not  wholly 
restrained,  even  amid  the  correct  principles  and  careful 
researches  of  our  own  day.  And  while  these  theories 
were,  in  many  respects,  absurd  and  utterly  fruitless, 
and  served  to  divert  attention  from  that  accurate  and 
patient  observation  which  alone  can  lead  to  any  correct 
acquaintance  with  the  material  world,  yet  they  were  by 
no  means  without  value  as  a  sort  of  mental  gymnastics. 
We  have  thus  entered  upon  the  Greek  Philosophy. 
Of  course,  no  more  can  be  attempted,  in  speaking  of 
this  great  subject,  than  to  call  attention  to  its  extent 
and  value,  as  being  indeed  the  chief  material  of  Athe- 
nian education.  It  is  a  well-known  matter  of  dispute 
how  far  the  Greeks  were  indebted  for  their  philosophy 
to  the  Orientals.  Ritter  contends,  with  great  earnest- 
ness and  force,  that  it  originated  almost  entirely  among 
themselves.  Coleridge  used  to  declare  that  he  could 
not  believe  it  was  otherwise.  Admitting,  however, 
what  seems  at  least  probable,  that  a  certain  influence 

*  At  the  present  day  (A.D.  1886)  even  the  most  rapid  sketch  would 
make  some  mention  of  Democritus  and  his  atomic  theory,  to  which 
attention  has  of  laf e  been  anew  directed. 


286  EDUCATION  IN  ATHENS. 

was  exerted  by  Oriental  ideas,  both  in  the  rise  of  Greek 
speculation,  and  subsequently  through  particular  men, 
as  Pythagoras  and  Plato,  yet  certainly  their  philosophy 
was  their  own,  in  the  sense  that  it  had  a  regular  devel- 
opment, in  accordance  with  the  genius  of  the  people 
and  their  general  progress.  Even  in  the  pre-Socratic 
philosophy  we  find  an  orderly  succession  of  doctrines, 
either  by  natural  development  or  the  antagonism  of  re- 
action, corresponding  precisely  with  the  alternations  of 
philosophic  opinion  in  all  subsequent  ages.  There  was 
ultra-sensationalism  and  ultra-idealism,  with  various 
attempts  to  combine  the  two.  There  was  a  school 
recognizing  an  imperfect  sort  of  theism  ;  another,  with 
teachings  more  or  less  distinctly  atheistic,  and  more 
than  one  whose  tendencies  were  decidedly  to  pantheism. 
Whatever  value,  then,  as  an  instrument  of  education,  is 
assigned  to  modern  speculation,  belongs  likewise,  in  no 
small  measure,  to  even  this  earlier  philosophy  of  the 
Greeks,  presenting,  as  it  did,  the  same  subjects  of  in- 
vestigation and  essentially  the  same  systems  of  belief, 
though  with  a  much  less  extensive  development,  and  in 
a  much  less  perfect  form.  And  it  was  not  only  valua- 
ble, but  attractive.  The  men  of  that  time  were  largely 
occupied,  as  philosophers  have  always  been,  with  the 
interesting  task  of  exposing  the  erroneousness  and  ab- 
surdity of  opposite  opinions,  and  this  w^ith  no  lack  of 
the  most  pungent  personality.  The  fact,  too,  that  these 
speculations  were  so  much  at  variance  with  prevailing 
opinions,  would  lead  men  not  only  to  make  acquaint- 
ance with  them,  but,  when  they  possessed  any  plausi- 
bility at  all,   to   investigate   them  with    a   sharp  and 


EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS.  287 

searching  attention.  So  great  is  the  power  of  paradox 
in  stimulating  inquiry,  that  we  have  seen  eminent  in- 
structors at  times  cast  their  ideas  into  a  purposely 
paradoxical  form,  with  the  design  of  breaking  up  set- 
tled prejudices  and  arousing  to  examination.  Now, 
when  a  young  Greek,  accustomed  to  those  old  legend- 
ary notions,  which  vaguely  described  all  things  as  the 
offspring  of  certain  imaginary  persons,  was  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  doctrines  held  by  one  or  another  of 
the  early  schools  of  philosophy, — when  he  heard,  for 
instance,  of  some  original  substance  and  of  impersonal 
forces,  as  accounting  for  all  existences,  he  would  almost 
certainly  be  led  into  curious  inquiry  and  earnest  reflec- 
tion ;  and  when  these  speculations  came  to  be  denounced 
and  persecuted  as  impious,  that  would  only  give  them 
an  additional  charm.  Is  there  not  in  these  considera- 
tions sufficient  explanation  of  the  fact  that  the  doctrines 
referred  to  were  through  life  eagerly  studied  by  such  a 
man  as  Pericles,  and  sufficient  reason  to  believe  that 
they  largely  contributed  to  the  expansion  and  discipline 
of  his  great  mind  ?  That  the  philosophical  teachings 
of  Socrates  and  his  illustrious  pupil  were  immensely 
valuable  for  purposes  of  education  w^ill  be  recognized 
at  once  and  by  all.  Let  it  only  be  observed  that  their 
most  profound  and  difficult  speculations  possessed  al- 
ways some  element  suited  to  awaken  the  liveliest  inter- 
est. They  taught  political  and  social  philosophy  to 
young  men  whose  special  ambition,  in  most  cases,  was 
for  political  advancement,  and  for  whom  these  subjects 
formed  a  part,  so  to  speak,  of  professional  study. 
Their  ethical  and  aesthetic  inquiries  were  often  made  to 


288  EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS. 

spring  from  some  actual  occurrence  or  real  object, 
Avhich  seemed  to  render  them  living  questions.  And 
every  one  who  has  read  Plato  will  remember  the  viva- 
city of  manner  with  which  Socrates  is  represented  as 
discussing  the  most  abstruse  subjects,  and  the  familiar, 
quaint,  even  whimsical  character  of  many  of  his  illus- 
trations. A  delight  in  abstract  inquiries,  a  love  of 
dialectical  investigation  for  its  own  sake  as  well  as  for 
its  fruits,  a  consequent  sharpening  of  all  the  mental 
powers,  and  a  general  elevation  of  spirit  at  least  in 
some  degree  commensurate  with  the  ennobling  tendency 
of  the  doctrines  themselves,  must  have  been  derived 
from  any  careful  study  of  the  Socratic  and  Platonic 
philosophy.  Every  well-informed  man  has  doubtless 
already  as  exalted  an  idea  of  its  educational  influence 
upon  that  and  all  subsequent  ages  as  any  attempted 
estimate  could  possibly  give. 

There  were  other  subjects  to  which  much  time  was 
devoted  among  the  Athenians,  and  from  which  they 
cannot  have  failed  to  derive  large  benefit.  We  have, 
however,  no  very  definite  information  concerning  the 
extent  to  which  these  were  made  matter  of  systematic 
instruction  by  the  teachers  of  young  men.  They  stud- 
ied their  own  noble  literature.  In  the  elementary 
schools,  a  large  portion  of  their  time  was  occupied  in 
committing  to  memory  the  writings  of  the  great  poets, 
epic,  lyric  and  dramatic;  so  that  we  read  of  young  men 
who  were  able  to  repeat  the  entire  Iliad  and  the  like. 
There  is  a  well-known  and  touching  story,  that  when 
the  Athenian  soldiers  taken  captive  at  Syracuse  in  the 
year  413  B.C.  were  sold   into   slavery,  many  of  them 


EDUCATION    IN    ATHENS.  289 

gained  the  favor  of  their  masters,  and  some  their  lib- 
erty, by  repeating  large  portions  of  the  dranias  of 
Euripides,  who  was  very  popular  in  Sicily,  and  that 
several  of  these  lived  to  tiiank  the  great  poet  on  their 
return  to  Athens.  Besides  the  obvious  improvement  of 
memory  and  refinement  of  taste,  this  exercise  at  school 
formed  a  means  of  acquiring  that  accuracy  and  elegance 
of  pronunciation  which  tlie  Athenians  so  rigidly  re- 
quired, and  which,  in  the  Greek  language,  must  have 
been  so  difficult.  It  prepared  them  also  for  the  intro- 
duction and  appreciation  of  those  felicitous  quotations 
from  the  older  poets  which  so  abound  in  the  orators 
and  philosophers.  But  these  early  lessons  were  not  all ; 
in  some  cases,  at  least,  lectures  on  literature  w^ere  deliv- 
ered by  the  higher  instructors.  Hippias  is  represented 
by  Plato  as  lecturing  to  crowded  audiences  on  Homer 
and  various  other  poets,  giving  much  archaeological 
information  which  might  illustrate  those  old  writers, 
presenting  critical  estimates  of  the  comparative  value  of 
different  poems  and  of  the  character  of  the  Homeric 
heroes.  It  seems  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  prac- 
tice was  not  unusual.  The  benefit  derived  from  these 
lectures  would  be  greatly  augmented  by  the  fact  that 
every  man  who  heard  them  had  a  familiar  previous 
acquaintance  with  the  literature  which  formed  their 
subject.  Add  to  all  this  the  general  eifect  of  reading 
and  of  the  drama,  and  it  cannot  be  questioned  that  here 
was  a  most  important  means  of  education.  Even  so 
much  as  then  existed  of  that  glorious  literature,  whose 
thoughts  of  power  and  forms  of  beauty  still  afford  val- 
uable discipline  and  abiding  delight  to  all  civilized 
19 


290  EDUCATION   IX    ATHENS. 

nations,  must  have  been  far  more  influential  among  a 
people  who  could  perfectly  sympathize  with  its  inner 
spirit,  a  people  familiar  with  the  scenes  it  depicted  and 
for  whom  it  possessed  the  peculiar  charm  that  always 
attaches  to  our  national  history  and  our  native  tongue. 

Much  attention  was  also  given  to  the  arts.  Almost 
every  Athenian  youth  learned  something  of  the  graphic 
arts  and  of  music,  and  a  philosophy  of  each  was  already 
recognized.  Phidias,  Parrhasius  and  others  established 
canons  in  their  several  departments  of  art,  and  musical 
science,  both  in  its  physical  and  metaphysical  relations, 
was  largely  studied.  Aristotle  has  left  us  an  elaborate 
argument  on  the  importance  of  a  practical  acquaintance 
with  these  subjects,  which  in  his  day  were  beginning  tQ 
be  neglected.  He  says,  for  example,  that  taking  the 
very  lowest  view,  these  accomplishments  are  a  source  of 
exceeding  pleasure  to  ourselves  and  others,  and  that  it 
should  be  a  part  of  education  to  fit  men  not  only  for 
the  proper  pursuit  of  business,  but  also  for  the  becom- 
ing enjoyment  of  leisure.  One  might  recall,  in  connec- 
tion with  this,  a  saying  of  Pericles,  in  the  remarkable 
funeral  oration.  He  accounts  it  one  of  the  peculiar 
glories  of  Athens  that  their  laws  provide  for  such  fre- 
quent intermissions  of  care,  by  means  of  numerous  and 
elegant  recreations,  whose  daily  delight  charms  melan- 
choly away.  Another  point  of  the  philosopher's  argu- 
ment is  that  rhythm  and  harmony  tend  to  regulate  and 
refine  the  mind,  while  the  graphic  arts  lead  us  up  to 
the  contemplation  of  beauty,  as  letters  to  the  contem^ 
l)lation  of  truth.  The  example  of  the  Greeks,  it  may 
be  remarked,  will  go  very  far  to  show  that  the  study 


EDUCATIO^-    IN    ATHENS.  291 

and  practice  of  music,  which  among  ourselves  is  so 
commonly  neglected  and  so  often  despised,  is  not  in- 
compatible, to  say  the  least,  with  profound  wisdom  or 
with  practical  fitness  for  the  business  of  life. 

We  see,  then,  that  however  limited  in  comparison 
wnth  the  attainments  of  modern  times,  the  field  of  ac- 
quired knowledge  was  really  of  great  extent.  With  a 
considerable  amount  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy, 
and  an  active  interest  in  the  investigation  of  these  and 
Dumerous  kindred  subjects,  with  Philosophy  in  all  its 
divisions  and  Art  in  all  its  branches,  and  with  an 
already  valuable  Literature, — there  was  material  for  a 
course  of  instruction  protracted  through  many  years. 
If,  now,  we  combine  with  this  result  the  conclusion 
previously  reached  as  to  the  abundant  supply  of  instruc- 
tors, I  think  it  wdll  sufficiently  appear  that  the  Athe- 
nians of  the  age  in  question  possessed  such  facilities  for 
enlarged  and  thorough  education  as  may  account  for  the 
extraordinary  degree,  not  only  of  mental  power,  but  of 
mental  discipline,  which  is  so  manifest  in  their  history 
and  remaining  works.  It  would  hardly  be  extravagant 
to  assert,  that  in  real  training  of  mind,  in  mastery  of 
principles  and  knowledge  of  men,  in  capacity  for  every 
form  of  mental  effort,  from  the  most  refined  speculation 
to  the  conduct  of  affairs,  they  were  as  highly  educated  a 
people  as  the  world  has  yet  seen. 

The  subject  I  have  endeavored  thus  summarily  to 
present  might  suggest  a  variety  of  reflections  bearing 
upon  our  ow^n  educational  interests.  To  a  few  of  these 
I  shall  now  allude. 

Instruction  amonfr  the  Athenians   was  chieflv  oral. 


202  EDITATIOX    IN    ATHENS. 

liuuks  iIk y  had,  but  they  were  rare  and  costly.  Much 
of  their  raiding  was  with  the  peculiar  disadvantages  as 
well  as  peiHdiar  benefits  of  using  borrowed  books.  It 
was  a  matter  of  neees.-ity  that  they  should  occupy  them- 
selves mainly  with  oral  discussion.  The  multiplication 
of  l)o<)ks  and  their  clieapness  has  perhaps  been  the  chief 
cause  of  that  entirely  opposite  practice  which  now  so 
largely  j)revails.  Of  course  it  is  not  necessary  to  dis- 
cuss the  merits  of  the  two  methods  in  this  presence. 
The  prominence  of  lecturing,  in  every  department  of 
the  University,  has  beyond  question  contributed  not  a 
little  to  its  success,  stimulating  to  that  sharpened  atten- 
tion in  the  lecture-room  which  intelligent  visitors  have 
eo  often  remarked,  and  leading  to  a  thorough  compre- 
hension of  general  principles  on  the  part  of  students, 
while  it  almost  necessitates  laborious  personal  study, 
year  after  year,  on  the  part  of  those  who  teach.  One  is 
surprised  to  find  it  said,  by  persons  elsewhere  who  still 
hold  to  the  o|)posite  course,  that  this  method  proposes  to 
throw  away  text-books  altogether,  when  a  judicious 
combination  of  tiie  two  is  constantly  advocated  and 
attempted,  a  combination  varying  in  the  relative  pro- 
j)ortion  of  its  elements  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
particular  subject.  Xor  is  it  less  strange  to  hear  it 
urgetl,  that  the  method  is  ap})ropriate  only  for  those  who 
luivc  decided  maturity  of  mind,  since  a  brief  experi- 
ment woidd  suffice  to  show  that  nowhere  more  than  in 
elementary  schools  is  oral  instruction  profitable  and  neces- 
Kary.  One  might  be  inclined  at  times  to  suspect  that  a 
latent  dread  of  the  labor  it  requires  is  the  true  ground 
of  opposition,  did   nut    the   high   character   for  ability 


EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS.  293 

and  faithfulness  of  some  who  oppose,  render  the  sup- 
position inadmissible. — Moreover,  the  Athenians  derived 
much  of  their  knowledge  from  free  conversation,  not 
only  between  an  instructor  and  his  pupils,  but  in  the 
social  intercourse  of  cultivated  men  in  general.  Every 
one  has  observed  the  lack  of  this  at  the  present  day, 
particularly  in  our  own  country.  Between  the  Professor 
and  his  class,  it  is,  perhaps,  mainly  impracticable,  and  the 
great  advantages  of  our  modern  institutions  must  make 
compensation.  In  general  society  the  growing  infre- 
quency  of  intercourse  for  conversation  upon  elevated 
topics  appears  to  result  from  several  causes.  We  live 
in  an  age  of  feverish  activity  and  incessant  toil, 
when  all  leisure  is  apt  to  be  reckoned  loss.  New 
and  attractive  books  and  periodicals  constantly  ac- 
cumulate upon  the  table  and  engross  every  moment 
that  can  be  snatched  from  pressing  duties.  Ming- 
ling little  together,  and  with  an  ever-widening  lit- 
erature in  the  several  professions  and  in  the  various 
departments  of  knowledge,  our  better  reading  is  less 
and  less  in  the  same  direction.  Already  there  is  often 
little  common  ground  save  politics  and  general  news. 
The  whole  tendency  is  to  a  diminution  of  that  intellec- 
tual sympathy  which  ought  to  subsist  among  men  of 
cultivation,  however  diverse  their  callings.  Even  if  we 
looked  to  nothing  beyond  obtaining  valuable  informa- 
tion, surely  there  i«  more  to  be  learned  from  conversation 
with  intelligent  friends  than  from  the  hurried  reading  of 
every  ephemeral  publication  which  obtrudes  itself  upon 
our  notice.  Another  cause  is,  that  a  higher  moraHty 
forbids  the  excesses  which  have  so  commonly  been  con- 


2f)4  EDUCATION    IN    ATHENS. 


uvi: 


teil  ulth  tho  intercourse  of  literary  men.  Certainly 
>vc  Imil  better  ist>late  ourselves  completely  than  revive 
the  scenes  of  the  Greek  symposion  or  the  English  club; 
but  it  would  be  humiliating  to  acknowledge  that  exues- 
Bive  animal  indulgence  is  indispensable  to  elevated 
intellectual  communion.  It  may  be  said  that  the  whole 
matter  will  regulate  itself  aright;  but  I  may  at  least 
solicit  your  reflection,  whether  some  remedy  cannot  be 
found  for  what  does  appear  to  be  an  evil. 

The  educational  history  we  have  been  surveying 
suggests  also  the  important  fact  that  true  education  is 
nut  neces.^^arily  associated  with  vast  acquirements.  The 
famous  saying  of  Macaulay  that  a  modern  school-girl 
knows  more  of  Geography  than  Strabo,  is  in  one  sense 
true,  but  in  another  and  higher  sense  it  hides  a  dan- 
gerous error ;  for  he  who  would  measure  education  must 
not  forget  that  it  has  three  dimensions,  and  be  sure  to 
take  account  of  its  depth.  There  is  hardly  any  lesson 
which  our  age  needs  to  impress  upon  itself  more  con- 
etantly  than  that  thoroughness  is  not  to  be  sacrificed  to 
extensive  attainment.  We  remember,  gentlemen,  those 
of  us  particularly  who  were  deficient  in  early  advan- 
tages, the  delusive  hope  of  boyhood,  that  there  would 
come  a  time  when  we  should  have  read  all  books,  and 
become  masters  of  all  knowledge.  AYe  learned  long 
ago  that  this  can  never  be ;  yet  often  one  re-awakes  to 
fresh  disapiKjJntment,  and  finds  that  he  has  been  dream- 
ing that  sweet  dream  of  childhood  still.  It  is  painful 
to  think  that  we  must  live  on  and  die,  and  leave  many  a 
wide  field  nf  liuinaii  knowledge  untraversed  and  un- 
known.    This  hjnging  to  learn  everything  Is  in  itself  a 


EDUCATION    IN    ATHENS.  295 

noble  element  of  our  nature^  and  leads  to  noble  results; 
but  it  requires  to  be  checked  by  the  stern  voice  of  duty. 
It  is  this  feeling,  combined  with  an  indolent  preference 
of  that  which  is  comparatively  ea.>y,  that  induces  some 
persons  to  spend  their  lives  in  skimming  the  surface  of 
every  science  and  all  literature,  nowhere  pausing  for 
thorough  exauiination.  It  is  this  that  produces  the 
popular  admiration  of  men  who  have  the  reputation  of 
omnivorous  reading,  while  they  may  not  be,  in  any  just 
sense  of  the  term,  scholars.  And  in  no  respect  are 
its  effects  more  likely  to  be  injurious  than  upon  the 
interests  of  the  higher  education.  Students,  where  there 
is  liberty  of  choice,  are  constantly  disposed  to  attempt 
more  than  within  the  time  assigned  they  can  properly 
accomplish ;  professors  have  to  struggle  continually 
against  a  desire  to  make  their  course  unduly  extensive ; 
while  cultivated  and  enthusiastic  spectators,  who  have 
forgotten  their  experience  in  the  one  capacity  and  are 
perhaps  destitute  of  experience  in  the  other,  impressed 
with  the  value  of  some  branch  of  a  subject  which  is  not 
included,  call,  and  call  with  forcible  argument  and  elo- 
quent appeal,  for  enlargement.  Now,  when  it  is  urged 
that  additional  studies  shall  be  pursued  in  additional 
time,  no  lover  of  knowledge  can  fail  to  give  a  hearty 
approbation.  When  it  is  proposed  to  crowd  other  sub- 
jects into  the  same  already  crowded  space,  the  project  is 
very  questionable.  When  it  is  desired  that  we  shall 
seek  some  vague  general  benefit,  in  such  a  condition  of 
things  as  to  involve,  whether  that  be  the  intention  or 
not,  a  sacrifice  of  thorough  study,  any  such  s- heme 
deserves  to  be  resisted,  firmly  and  forever. 


2i)Q  EDUCATION    IN    ATHENS. 

lu  endeavoring  to  give  a  valuable  coarse  of  instruc- 
tion in  any  department  of  knowledge,  the  instructor 
must  always  keep  in  view  three  objects ;  and  where  the 
tfubject  is  unprofessional,  and  he  is  confined  within  such 
narrow  limits  as  the  present  spirit  and  customs  of  our 
people  impose,  they  ought  to  be  held,  if  I  correctly 
judge,  in  the  following  order  of  relative  importance: 
Hi-st,  to  secure  mental  training;  second,  to  awaken  a 
love  for  the  subject,  which  may  lead  the  student  to 
prosecute  it  hereafter;  last  and  least,  to  furnish  infor- 
mation. In  teaching,  for  instance,  one  of  the  ancient 
lanffuacres,  to  those  who  cannot  yet  be  induced  to  give  to 
it  more  than  a  limited  time,  to  make  the  student  ac- 
quainted with  whatever  valuable  truths  the  literature 
of  that  language  contains,  though  very  desirable  in 
itself,  must  certainly  be  reckoned  of  inferior  import- 
ance. If  this  were  the  principal  object,  there  would 
be  much  force  in  the  argument  often  urged  against  all 
study  of  those  languages,  that  translations  would  suf- 
fice. The  question  then  is, — \yhich  will  accoraplish 
most  in  the  way  of  mental  culture  and  in  awakening  a 
relish  for  the  classics,  to  spend  the  time  which  can  be 
commanded  in  reading  as  widely  as  possible,  though 
with  a  very  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  language  itself, 
or  to  make  an  accurate  and  philosophical  acquaintance 
witii  the  language  the  ])rimary  object — it  being  remem- 
bered that  in  order  to  this  no  small  amount  of  reading 
is  necessary,  and  that  so  much  at  least  of  the  literature 
is  read  with  a  tolerably  thorough  comprehension  and 
just  appreciation?  As  to  intellectual  training,  no  one 
will  (juc-iioii  that  the  latter  method  is  more  useful.     I 


EDUCATION    IN    ATHENS.  297 

think  it  can  easily  be  shown  that  the  same  thuig  is  true 
where  some  do  question  it,  as  to  the  cultivation  of  taste. 
If  you  should  go  with  some  young  friend  to  a  gallery 
of  art,  having  but  a  comparatively  short  time  at  your 
disposal,  and  desiring  to  procure  him  the  largest  amount 
of  benefit  and  enjoyment,  your  course,  if  unrelkcting 
as  the  mass  of  men,  would  probably  be  to  carry  him 
through  a  rapid  survey  of  numerous  works,  telling  him 
the  names  of  the  great  artists,  and  pointing  out  their 
most  celebrated  productions,  and  giving  him  all  the 
critical  common- places  of  would-be  connoisseurs.  Your 
friend  would  go  away  little  inclined  to  come  again,  and 
with  scarcely  anything  of  real  benefit,  but  marvellously 
prepared  to  shine  in  a  certain  kind  of  society  by  a  dis- 
play of  his  remarkable  familiarity  with  matters  of  art. 
But  if  you  select  a  considerable  number  of  the  finest 
works  and  fix  his  attention  upon  these  till  he  shall,  to 
some  extent,  drink  in  their  deep  Inner  significance  and 
beauty,  he  will  turn  away,  not  imr.gining  that  he 
knows  much,  but  with  some  true  culture  of  taste, 
with  a  heightened  love  of  the  beautiful,  and  probably 
with  a  strong  desire  to  visit  again  the  spot  where  he 
found  so  much  of  genuine  improvement  and  serene 
delight.  Even  so,  if  we  desire  nothing  more  than  the 
ability  to  make  large  talk  concerning  even  the  most 
unfamiliar  classic  authors,  and  to  ornament  our  pages 
with  a  plentiful  sprinkling  of  classic  allusion  and  quo- 
tation, then  it  will  suffice  to  run  rapidly  over  many 
works  and  read  treatises  on  Greek  and  Roman  Litera- 
ture. But  if  we  desire  that  true  cultivation  of  taste, 
the  faculty  of  taste,  which  the  classics  are  capable  of 


298  EDUCATION   IN   ATHENS. 

affording,  we  must  study  at  least  some  works  with  such 
a  patieut  attention  as  shall  at  length  issue  in  apprecia- 
tive contemplation  and  in  sympathy  with  their  peculiar 
genius.  And  let  it  not  be  objected  that  in  order  to  this 
appreciation  there  is  no  need  of  critical  study,  as  the 
great  scholars  of  two  centuries  ago  entered  most  fully 
into  the  classical  spirit,  while  they  knew  very  little  of 
what  we  call  philology.  The  objector  appears  to  forget 
that  condition  which  I  have  repeatedly  mentioned,  and 
which,  however  deplorable,  can  be  corrected  only  by 
very  slow  degrees,—  the  lack  of  time.  Milton  and  the 
other  great  scholars  of  his  age  spent  a  large  portion  of 
their  lives  in  reading  Latin  and  Greek  authors,  becom- 
ing almost  as  familiar  with  those  languages,  particu- 
larly the  former,  as  with  English  itself.  Thus  they 
were  brought  into  sympathy  with  the  genius  of  the 
classic  languages,  precisely  as  in  the  case  of  their  native 
tongue,  by  the  gradual  effect  of  this  exceeding  famil- 
iarity. Very  similar,  though  within  narrower  limits, 
seems  to  be  the  plan  pursued  in  England  now.  By  an 
almost  exclusive  devotion  during  many  years,  their 
classical  scholars  attain  to  an  extremely  accurate  and 
familiar  knowledge  of  the  languages,  learning  to  feel 
the  force  of  their  idiom,  not  by  philosophical  examina- 
tion, but  by  an  immense  amount  of  practical  drilling. 
It  might  appear  presumptuous  to  say  that,  even  for 
them,  a  larger  infusion  of  philosophy  would  augment 
the  benefit  their  system  already  confers.  It  is  sufficient 
to  say  that,  among  us,  such  a  course  as  that  pursued  by 
IMilton  or  by  the  modern  English  scholars  is  at  present 
utterly  impracticable.     If  we  would,  with  far  less  time 


EDUCATION    IN    ATHENS.  299 

at  command,  still  attain  to  the  privilege  of  communion 
with  the  very  spirit  of  classical  literature,  our  best,  if 
not  our  only  method,  is  by  critical,  philological  study. 
For  it  must  be  remembered  that  philology  includes  not 
only  the  anatomy,  but  the  physiology  of  language — not 
merely  the  study  of  etymological  formations,  to  the  be- 
ginner often  so  repulsive,  to  the  proficient  so  interest- 
ing, but  of  the  precise  significance  of  peculiar  modes  of 
expression,  with  the  exact  meaning  and  force  of  parti- 
cles, and  the  relations  of  these  to  the  inner  life  and  in- 
forming spirit  of  the  language.  Is  it  not  obvious  that 
this  affords  the  best  possible  means  of  entering  into  the 
genius  of  a  literature,  and  securing  a  genuine  culture, 
not  only  of  intellect,  but  of  taste?*  We  are  all  agreed, 
gentlemen — let  it  be  distinctly  understood — that  it  is 
desirable  our  young  men  should  read  the  classics  far 
more  widely  than  they  have  ever  done,  and  that,  in 
order  to  this,  as  well  as  on  other  accounts,  they  should 
come  to  the  university  later,  and  remain  longer,  than  is 
their  wont.  For  the  attainment  of  such  a  result,  let  us 
exert  our  united  influence  of  every  kind  and  in  every 
place.  For  the  rest,  the  standard  of  graduation  in  this 
department  has  been  slowly  rising  with  almost  every 
year;  the  amount  of  reading  necessary  to  a  degree  is 
already  great ;  Ave  may  expect  that  this  standard  will 
continue  to  be  elevated,  and  the  requisite  reading  to  be 
widened,  as  rapidly  as  the  time  students  can  be  induced 
to  give  will  possibly  permit.     Thus   may  they  secure 

*  The  polemical  position  here  as'umpfl  in  defen'ling  Dr.  Ges^iner 
Harrison's  methods  will  be  found  to  have  been  somewhat  modified  ia 
the  memorial  which  follows. 


300  EDUCATION    IN   ATHENS. 

the  largest  intellectual  and  sesthetical  cultivation  now, 
and  thus,  precisely  as  fast  as  our  people  shall  be  pre- 
pared for  it,  the  course  of  classical  instruction,  while 
never  ceasing  to  be  thorough,  may  be  indefinitely  ex- 
tended. Shall  not  such  a  plan,  with  all  its  valuable 
results  in  the  past  and  all  its  promise  for  the  future, 
receive  general  approbation  ?  Or  shall  we  ask  that  our 
young  men  may  spend  the  time  they  now  devote  to  the 
classics  in  somewhat  more  extensive  and  far  more  im- 
perfect reading,  when,  if  there  is  force  in  the  brief 
argument  we  have  considered,  the  consequence  will  be  a 
positive  diminution,  not  only  of  intellectual  improve- 
ment, but  of  that  very  sesthetical  culture  which  all  con- 
sider important,  and  which  some  reckon  paramount? 
That  is  the  practical  question  upon  which  alone,  so  far 
as  I  know,  there  is  any  difference  of  opinion ;  and  to 
the  many  among  us  wlio  have  some  tolerable  acquaint- 
ance with  the  sul^ject,  the  decision  of  that  question  may 
be  cheerfully  committed. 

One  or  two  other  topics  of  remark  suggest  themselves, 
which  I  shall  only  indicate. 

The  Greeks  were  in  many  respects  pioneers  of  knowl- 
edge. Many  subjects,  particularly  of  mathematical  and 
physical  science,  which  for  us  involve  no  difficulty 
because  their  nature  has  been  fully  explained,  were 
for  them  problems  calling  forth  the  mightiest  ener- 
gies, and  demanding  the  most  protracted  application. 
Is  it  not  true  that  strength  of  mind  is  still  best 
attained,  not  by  confining  ourselves  to  those  regions  in 
wliich  all  difficulties  have  been  removed  by  others*  toil, 
but  by  approaching  the  boundaries  of  knowledge,  and 


EDUCATION    IX    ATHEXS.  301 

Striving  to  extend  its  domain  ?  It  is  sometimes  lamented 
as  a  deplorable  fatality  that  men  cannot  be  restrained 
from  laboring  still  at  questions  which  the  experience  of 
ages  appears  to  prove  to  be  insoluble.  Yet  even  though 
the  effort  should  continue  to  be  fruitless,  is  not  that 
struggling  effort  itself  a  gain,  because  producing  such 
vigor  of  intellect  as  nothing  but  pioneering  work  could 
ever  give.  It  would  be  a  fact  worth  considering,  if  it 
is  true,  that  the  unconquerable  tendency  of  which  men 
complain  is  in  reality  singularly  fortunate ;  that  where 
we  often  find  disappointment  and  despair,  there  too  we 
find  the  largest  real  benefit. 

The  thorough  education  of  the  period  we  have  been 
considering  did  not  prepare  the  Greeks  for  producing 
3n  epic  poeiry  which  should  rival  the  creations  of  a 
past  age.  The  greatly  improved  educational  resources 
of  subsequent  centuries  could  never  re-animate  the 
decaying  spirit  of  Grecian  literature.  There  are  influ- 
ences at  work  among  men  far  mightier  than  what  we 
call  education.  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  systems  of 
instruction  to  reproduce  the  literary  types  of  a  remote 
time  or  a  distant  people.  Nor  is  this  at  all  to  be 
regretted,  w^here,  in  place  of  extinct  forms,  there  is  some- 
thing equally  valuable.  Why  need  the  Athenians  of 
the  age  of  Pericles  lament  that  there  was  no  new 
Homer,  when  they  had  the  immortal  dramatists?  Why 
complain,  a  few  generations  later,  that  no  other  Socrates 
or  Pericles  arose,  when  Aristotle  and  Demosthenes  were 
there?  So  wath  our  own  country.  If  the  condition 
and  character  of  the  nation  have  directed  the  attention 
of  our  ablest  minds  to  politics,  is  it  nothing  that  we 


302  EDUCATION    IN    ATHENS. 

have  produced  a  political  literature  such  as  the  world 
never  witnessed  before  ? — Why  lament  that  the  mighty 
governing  forces  of  social  progress  have  appointed  our 
people  no  different  work,  if  they  have  performed  with 
unequalled  success  the  task  that  was  set  them?  Have 
we  not  reason  here  to  be  satisfied  with  what  our  fathers 
accomplished,  and  be  hopeful  for  our  own  future  ?  And 
let  no  man  ever  forget  that  it  is  the  business  of  educa- 
tion merely  to  give  a  harmonious  development  and 
thorough  discipline  to  the  powers  of  the  national  mind, 
not  so  much  attempting  any  particular  bias,  as  leaving  it 
for  the  irresistible  tendencies  of  the  age  to  determine 
in  what  direction  those  powers  shall  be  exerted. 

And  now  gentlemen,  let  us  unite  in  the  desire  that 
on  this,  as  on  every  occasion  of  our  annual  assembling, 
we  may  turn  away  profoundly  impressed  with  the  duties 
we  personally  owe  to  the  cause  of  education  and  to  this 
University.  It  is  pleasant  to  see  so  many  of  our  num- 
ber in  high  places  here,  of  instruction  and  of  control. 
It  is  cheering  to  hope  that  zeal  tempered  with  prudence, 
and  the  spirit  of  progress  chastened  by  conservatism, 
are  to  render  truly  illustrious  this  dynasty  of  the 
Alumni.  But  it  is  in  the  power  of  us  all  so  to  cherish 
the  spirit  of  letters,  so  to  prove  the  value  of  the  train- 
ing here  received,  that  this  noble  Institution,  which 
made  us  proud  and  happy  in  younger  years  by  the 
bestowal  of  her  unrivalled  honors,  may,  at  least  to  some 
extent,  receive  honor  in  return  from  the  achievements 
of  our  ripened  manhood  and  our  advancing  age. 


XVII. 

MEMORIAL  OF  GESSNER  HARRISON  * 

HE  fell  amid  the  storm  of  war.  Three  years  earlier 
and  the  death  of  Gessner  Harrison  would  have  stirred 
the  whole  South.  The  journals  of  every  State  would 
have  contained  tributes  from  many  an  admiring  and 
grateful  pupil.  In  Virginia  especially  we  should  have 
been  told  in  eloquent  terms  how  much  he  had  done  to 
raise  the  standard  of  education  throughout  the  State,  and 
the  story  of  his  laborious  life  would  have  been  lovingly 
connected  with  the  history  of  that  great  University  which 
was  the  pride  of  all  educated  Virginians.  But  he  died 
when  the  war  tempest  had  long  been  raging,  when  the 
darkness  was  deepening,  and  many  hearts  were  beginning 
to  shudder  lest  all  things  we  most  loved  should  go  down 
together;  and  he  fell  almost  as  unnoticed  as  falls  a  single 
drop  into  a  stormy  sea.  To  this  day  it  is  sometimes  asked 
by  intelligent  men  w^here  the  famous  Professor  is,  and 
what  he  is  doing.  Already  when  he  died  the  hearts  of 
men  were  becoming  filled  with  the  love  of  our  great 
military  leaders,  the  love  which  afterwards  grew  into  an 
absorbing  passion.  Inter  anna  silent  litterce.  And  so  it 
is  likely  that  the  young  of  to-day  can  scarcely  believe, 
the  old  cannot  without  difficulty  recall,  how  widely 
known,  how  highly  honored  and  admired,  how  warmly 
*  Before  the  Society  of  Alumni  of  the  University  of  Va.,  July  2,  1873. 

303 


304  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSXER    HARRISON. 

loved,  was  the  mere  civilian,  the  quiet  and  unpretending 
Professor  of  1859.  It  is  surely  worth  while,  then,  not 
only  out  of  respect  for  his  honored  memory,  but  for  our 
own  sake,  and  for  sweet  learning's  sake,  that  we  should 
spend  an  hour  here,  so  near  to  his  old  lecture-room,  to 
his  home,  and  to  his  grave,  in  reminding  ourselves  and 
telling  to  all  whom  our  voices  can  reach,  what  a  man  ho 
was,  and  what  a  work  he  performed. 

Gessuer  Harrison  was  the  son  of  Peachy  Harrison, 
M.D.,  of  the  town  of  Harrisonburg,  twenty-five  miles 
north  of  Staunton.  His  mother's  maiden  name  was 
Mary  Stuart-.  The  father  was  a  member  of  the  Senate 
of  Virginia,  and  of  the  famous  Convention  of  1829-30. 
He  took  great  interest  in  politics,  and  was  accounted  the 
leader  of  his  political  party  in  that  region.  But  he  aban- 
doned public  life  through  love  of  his  profession.  He 
w^as  the  leading  physician  of  Rockingham,  including  in 
his  practice  most  of  the  best  families  of  the  county,  and 
patients  frequently  came  to  him  from  other  counties.  Not 
only  in  politics  and  in  his  profession,  but  in  all  the  rela- 
tions and  duties  of  life,  he  showed  himself  a  man  of  un- 
common good  sense  and  sound  judgment.  He  was  very 
fond  of  reading,  and  collected  a  considerable  library.  He 
greatly  admired  the  German  character,  of  w^hich  some  ex- 
cellent though  humble  specimens  w^ere  among  the  early 
settlers  of  that  region,  and  the  German  literature,  so  far 
as  it  then  existed  and  was  known  to  him  ;  and  his  liking 
for  the  Swiss  poet  Gessncr,  particularly  for  a  poem  on 
the  Death  of  Abel,  led  him  to  give  the  name  Gessner  to 
his  second  son.  He  was  a  deeply  devout  Christian  and 
a  decided  Methodist. 


MEMORIAL    OF    GESSNER    HARRISON.  305 

There  are  few  things  so  truly  honorable  as  to  be  a 
really  good  physician — a  man  of  strong  sense,  good 
general  and  professional  cultivation,  superior  skill,  ready- 
sympathies  and  earnest  piety.  All  this  the  elder  Harri- 
son was,  in  a  high  degree.  His  son  Gessner  also  was  not 
mistaken  in  the  early  feeling  which  drew  him  toward  the 
same  calling,  for  he  was  by  nature  singularly  suited  to 
its  pursuit,  though  Providence  had  other  work  for  him 
to  do.  A  nuich  younger  son.  Dr.  Peachy  Eush  Harri- 
son, showed  the  same  specific  talent,  and  entered  u])on 
practice  in  Harrisonburg  with  extraordinary  success  and 
the  brightest  prospects,  but  was  cut  off  by  an  untimely 
death.*  The  father  died  in  1848  ;  his  excellent  and  esti- 
mable wife  survived  till  1857. 

Gessner  was  born  June  26,  1807,  in  the  town  of  Har- 
risonburg; but  his  father  soon  afterward  removed  to  an 
old  family  homestead  a  little  way  out,  vSo  that  his  chil- 
dren lived  in  the  country,  and  yet  were  near  the  town. 
The  older  son,  Edward,  delighted  in  hunting,  but  Gess- 
ner became  fond  of  farming.  Through  all  his  career 
he  longed  for  country  life  and  agriculture,  and  in  his 
last  year  or  two  we  shall  find  him  entering  upon  this 
with  great  relish.  He  began  to  attend  school  at  the  age 
of  four  years,  and  at  eight  began  the  Latin  Grammar. 
He  is  described  by  a  surviving  relative  as  a  very  small 
boy,  with  ruddy  cheeks ;  a  favorite  with  the  girls  of  the 
school,  and  at  the  same  time  exceedingly  fond  of  his 
studies  and  of  general  reading.  At  home  he  always  car- 
ried  a  book    in  his   pocket,  and  when  occupied   in  cut- 

*Two  sons  of  Gessner  Harrison  are  ])hysicians,  Dr.  George  Tucker 
Harrison  and  Dr.  H.  W.  Harrison,  both  of  New  York  City. 

20 


306  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSXER   HARRISON. 

tiucT  wood  or  such  duties  he  would  never  sit  down  to 
rest  but  the  book  was  at  once  taken  out. 

Among  his  early  teachers  were  a  Mr.  Davis,  v/ho  had 
been  tutor  in  William  and  Mary  College,  and  Rev.  Dan- 
iel Baker,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  who  afterward  be- 
came quite  famous  all  over  the  South  as  a  revivalist.  In 
the  Life  of  Dr.  Baker  is  a  note  from  Dr.  G.  Harrison, 
stating  that  for  some  years  of  his  boyhood  he  was  a  pu- 
pil of  Dr.  B.,  and  that  he  had  always  regarded  him  as 
having  displayed,  in  a  very  eminent  degree,  some  of  the 
best  qualities  of  a  teacher  of  youth.  On  his  last  visit  to 
the  University,  when  quite  an  old  man.  Dr.  Baker  great- 
ly amused  the  Professor's  younger  children  by  telling  of 
the  circumstances  of  a  whipping  which  he  had  on  one 
single  occasion  found  it  necessary  to  administer.  Two 
other  Presbyterian  divines,  Messrs.  Smith  and  Hendren, 
were  among  the  growling  boy's  instructors.  And  the  case 
is  scarcely  singular :  a  large  proportion  of  the  best  school- 
teaching  done  in  Virginia  in  those  days  was  done  by 
the  Presbyterian  ministers. 

Professor  Henry  Tutwiler,  of  Alabama,  who  was  Gess- 
ner  Harrison's  school-mate  at  Harrisonburg,  his  room- 
mate at  the  University,  and  his  most  intimate  friend 
through  life,  states  that  there  was  in  Harrisonburg  a 
small  town-library,  of  which  Dr.  Peachy  Harrison  was 
a  stockholder,  and  the  books  of  which  his  sons  were  ac- 
customed to  read,  besides  those  they  found  at  home. 
From  this  library  Gessner  obtained  Home  Tooke^s  Di- 
versions of  Purley,  which  lie  read  with  great  delight,  and 
to  which,  Mr.  Tutwiler  thinks,  his  fondness  for  Philo- 
logical studies  is  largely  due.  With  all  its  blunders,  and 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSXER   HARRISON.  e307 

even  absurdities,  as  they  may  now  be  considered,  tlie 
Diversions  of  Parley  was  an  epoch-making  book,  open- 
ing the  period  of  philological  study  of  the  English  lan- 
guage, of  which  we  are  now  beginning  to  reap  some  good 
fruits  ;  and  it  exhibits  such  kindling  enthusiasm  for  the 
subject  as  could  not  fail  to  awaken  any  native  appetency 
for  the  study  of  language. 

Such  were  the  advantages,  domestic  and  educational, 
which  Gessner  Harrison  had  enjoyed,  when,  at  the  age 
of  nearly  eighteen,  he  came,  with  his  older  brother,  Ed- 
ward, to  enter  the  University,  whose  first  session  then 
began,  March  1,  1825.  His  father  did  not  share  in  the 
fears  which  led  many  devout  men  in  the  Commonwealth 
to  keep  their  sons  away  from  the  University,  because 
there  was  no  provision  made  in  its  Constitution  for  re- 
ligious instruction  or  religious  worship.  Perhaps  his 
intense  political  sympathy  with  Mr.  Jefferson  made  some 
amends  for  the  lack  of  sympathy  as  to  evangelical  Chris- 
tianity, And,  no  doubt,  he  relied  much  on  the  religious 
education  he  had  given  his  sons,  on  their  fixed  religious 
principles  (the  elder  being,  in  fact,  already  a  professed 
Christian),  and  on  the  influence  which,  even  at  a  distance, 
would  be  maintained  by  their  home  and  their  parents. 
After  all,  these  are  a  youth's  best  safe-guards  as  he  goes 
to  meet  the  temptations  which,  in  one  way  or  another, 
he  must  encounter  ;  the  armor  in  which  he  will  best  fight 
the  battles  that  may  not  be  escaped.  The  fears  which 
have  been  mentioned  as  entertained  by  many  were,  no 
doubt,  exaggerated.  They  had  never  heard  or  dreamed 
of  a  college  without  religious  worship  and  compulsory 
attendance   upon  it,  as,  even  to  the    present  day,  such 


308  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSXER   HARRISON. 

compulsory  attendance  is  regarded  as  necessary  in  most 
American  colleges ;  and  the  idea  of  a  University  in 
which  there  would  be  no  prayers  nor  preaching  was  to 
them  in  the  highest  degree  alarming.  But  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son's determination  at  all  hazards  to  maintain  religious 
liberty,  as  an  indispensable  element  of  freedom  in  gen- 
eral, if  it  led  to  an  extreme  in  this  case,  certainly  led  to 
that  extreme  which  lay  in  the  right  direction.  He  was 
confident  that  whatever  was  really  necessary  in  the  way 
of  religious  instruction  and  worship  would,  in  one  way 
or  another,  be  voluntarily  introduced  here  by  the  vari- 
ous denominations  of  Christians.  And,  although  the 
void  left  was  at  first  an  evil,  we  all  know  how,  in  tlie 
course  of  a  few  years  and  in  the  ordering  of  Providence, 
it  was  filled ;  how,  as  nothing  in  this  respect  had  been 
instituted,  something  grew,  in  a  form  perfectly  free  and 
generally  satisfactory,  attended  by  a  thousand  blessed 
results,  and  capable  of  being  altered  without  difficulty, 
if  the  circumstances  of  the  future  should  demand  it. 

There  was  nothing  very  striking  in  the  appearance  of 
young  Gessner  Harrison  when  he  came  to  the  Univer- 
sity. He  was  somewhat  below  the  middle  height,  wnth 
a  low  forehead,  and  a  head  whose  general  shape  was  an 
exception  to  the  rules  of  Phrenology ;  his  face,  though 
quite  engaging,  was  rather  homely,  with  one  remarkable 
exception.  His  dark  eyes  were  singularly  beautiful  and 
expressive.  One  of  the  few  sensible  things  which  Mi^s 
Fredrika  Bremer  contrived  to  say  in  the  extended  ac- 
count she  gave  of  her  visit,  many  years  after  this,  to  the 
University,  was  her  laudatory  reference  to  the  Chairman 
of  the  Faculty's  '^  beautiful,  meditiitive  eye.''    In  truth, 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER    HARRISON.  309 

that  eye  would  express,  all  unconsciously  to  him,  not 
only  meditation,  but  every  phase  of  feeling  ;  and,  as  the 
years  went  on,  it  seemed  to  a  close  observer  to  hide,  in 
its  quiet  depths,  all  he  had  thought,  all  he  had  suffered, 
all  he  had  become — the  whole  world  of  his  inner  life. 
These  fine  eyes,  which  were,  no  doubt,  a  little  downcast 
when  he  first  diffidently  met  the  Professors,  with  the 
ruddy  cheeks  which  had  pleased  the  school-girls,  and  a 
voice  most  of  whose  tones  were  quite  pleasing  and  some 
of  them  exceedingly  sweet,  made  no  small  amends  for  his 
general  homeliness. 

Mr.  George  Long,  who  had  come  over  from  England 
to  be  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages,  and  who  is  still 
living  in  the  south  of  England,  writes  as  follows  :  "  I 
well  remember  Dr.  Harrison  bringing  in  his  two  boys, 
and  my  examining  them.  Gessner  Harrison  was  then  a 
good  scholar,  considering  the  opportunities  that  he  had. 
He  was  very  diligent,  he  possessed  a  good  understand- 
ing, and  was,  in  all  respects,  an  excellent  young  man.'^ 
Mr.  Long  states  that,  besides  attending  some  of  his 
classes  during  all  the  three  years  that  he  remained  at 
the  University,  the  young  student  also  read  with  him 
privately  sometimes  in  several  Greek  authors.  Mr. 
Tutwiler  mentions  that  he  had  brought  with  him  to 
the  University  some  knowledge  of  German,  and  that  he 
studied  German  as  well  as  French  with  Dr.  Bliittermann, 
the  remarkable  linguist  who  was  Professor  of  Modern 
Languages.  Intending  to  be  a  physician,  and  loving 
language,  Harrison  confined  himself  to  ancient  and 
modern  languages,  chemistry  and  medicine.  But,  in 
Mr.  Tutwiler's  opinion,  he  would  have  distinguished 


310  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

himself  in  mathematics,  had  he  attended  that  school. 
The  opinion  common  among  the  students  in  late  years 
was  very  different.  A  story  had  great  currency  that, 
some  years  after  Dr.  Harrison  became  Professor,  he  and 
Mr.  Bonnycastle,  the  celebrated  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics, undertook  to  teach  each  other  in  Geometry  and 
Latin.  This  was  true,  but  the  story  went  on  to  say  that 
before  they  had  gone  far  Mr.  Bonnycastle  one  day  railed 
out,  "  Is  it  possible  that  you  cannot  demonstrate  as 
simple  a  proposition  as  that  ?  ^^  The  other  replied  tes- 
tily, ^^  Humph !  you  haven't  sense  enough  to  decline 
a  Latin  noun  of  the  first  declension.^'  Mr.  Tutwiler 
refers  to  this  story,  and  remarks  that  it  doubtless  ^''  had 
as  little  foundation  as  such  stories  usually  have."  So 
intimate  with  Harrison,  at  school  and  at  the  LTniver- 
sity,  and  himself  afterwards  eminent  in  Mathematics, 
Mr.  Tutwiler  can  well  judge  as  to  his  friend's  capacities 
in  this  respect.  Dr.  Harrison  himself  was  once  asked 
about  the  famous  story,  and  said,  in  his  quiet  way,  that 
he  was  not  aware  that  either  Mr.  Bonnycastle  or  himself 
gave  up  their  proposed  studies  together  for  any  other 
reason  than  the  fact  that  they  were  both  extremely 
busy.  So  much  has  been  said  upon  this  point  for  a 
reason.  There  is  nothing  more  common  among  students 
than  the  notion  that  that  rather  nondescript  thing  they 
delight  to  call  genius  is  best  manifested  by  remarkable 
success  in  the  study  of  some  one  subject,  attended 
by  remarkable  stupidity  as  to  others.  Some  bright 
enough,  but  slightly  idle  young  fellow,  who  got  badly 
started  in  Greek  or  in  Algebra,  and  is  now  too  proud 
or  too  indolent   to  go  back  and,  in  sheer  school-boy 


MEMORTAT.  OF  GESSXER   HARRISON.  311 

fashion,  work  over  the  elements  of  the  neglected  sub- 
ject, will  readily  abandon  it  altogether,  with  the  per- 
suasion that  he  has  "  no  talent  '^  for  languages,  or  for 
mathematics ;  and  this  he  states  to  his  friends  without 
shame,  from  a  secret  feeling  that  the  fact  only  sets  in 
bright  contrast  his  greater  talent  for  something  else. 
And  the  fashion  used  to  be  to  clinch  the  whole  thing  by 
telling  the  apocryphal  story  of  Dr.  Harrison  and  Mr. 
Bonnycastle.  It  is  very  certain  that  Dr.  Harrison  did 
not  think  lightly  of  Mathematics  and  Physical  Science 
as  one  great  department  of  our  means  of  culture;  though 
he  had  little  patience  with  the  notion,  sometimes  un- 
wisely put  forward,  that  the  study  of  these  subjects 
alone  will  constitute  a  complete  education. 

Of  the  little  that  is  now  remembered  concerning  his 
quiet  and  uneventful  student  life,  it  will  suffice  to  men- 
tion one  incident.  It  was  noticed  as  a  peculiarity  of  the 
young  Harrisons  that  they  would  never  study  on 
Sunday.  With  their  decided  character  and  convictions, 
they  would  find  no  great  difficulty  in  standing  com- 
paratively alone  in  this  respect.  But  there  came  a 
severer  test.  The  venerable  Father  of  the  University, 
who  survived  during  the  first  and  part  of  the  second 
session,  desired  to  become  personally  acquainted  with 
the  students.  The  desire  was,  no  doubt,  due  partly  to 
that  affi^ctionate  and  truly  paternal  interest  in  them 
which  he  manifested  in  every  way,  and  partly  also  to 
the  hope  of  gaining  personal  influence  over  them 
through  the  power  of  social  intercourse — a  power  which 
the  great  statesman  had  fully  recognized  and  constantly 
wielded  in  all  his  political  career.     Accordingly,  he  in- 


312  MEMORIAL    OF    GESSNER    HARRISON. 

vited  the  students  to  dine  with  him  at  Monticello.  As 
Sunday  had  always  been  a  favorite  day  with  him  and 
many  of  his  neighbors  for  dinner  parties,  and  as  the 
students  had  more  leisure  on  that  day,  he  invited  the.m, 
by  groups,  in  alphabetical  order,  to  dine  with  him  on  suc- 
cessive Sundays.  When  the  two  Harrisons  were  reached 
they  wrote  him  a  note,  stating  that  their  father,  who 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  had  trained 
them  to  observe  the  Sabbath  with  great  strictness ;  that 
not  even  their  having  had  the  honor  and  pleasure  of 
dinino*  with  Mr.  Jefferson  would  console  him  for  their 
having  committed  a  violation,  as  he  would  conceive,  of 
the  Sabbath  ;  and  that,  therefore,  out  of  respect  for  their 
father's  convictions — to  say  nothing  of  their  ow-n^ — they 
felt  constrained  to  deny  themselves  the  happiness,  etc. 
Mr.  Jefferson  sent  them,  in  reply,  one  of  those  ex- 
quisitely felicitous  notes  for  which  he  was  famous.  He 
said  it  gave  him  the  highest  gratification,  it  w^as  a  con- 
solation to  his  old  age,  to  meet  with  such  an  instance  of 
filial  piety  ;  to  find  young  men  showing  such  respect  for 
their  father's  opinions,  at  a  time  when  too  many  of  the 
young  were  inclined  to  disregard  the  counsels  of  age 
and  the  wishes  of  parents.  And  he  ended  by  particu- 
larly requesting  that  on  a  certain  day  of  the  next  week 
they  would  dine  with  him,  and  he  could  take  no  denial. 
They  went,  were  received  with  singular  courtesy,  and 
spent  hours  of  great  enjoyment,  being,  as  the  Faculty^ 
in  a  tribute  to  Mr,  Jefferson's  memory  the  following 
year,  said  had  often  been  true  of  themselves,  ^^  in- 
structed and  delighted  by  the  rare  and  versatile  powers 
of  that    intellect  which  time  had   enriched  with  facts 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  313 

without  detracting  from  its  lustre,  and  charmed  with 
those  irresistible  manners  which  were  dictated  by  deli- 
cacy and  benevolence." 

In  July,  1828,  at  the  close  of  the  third  session,  the 
first  graduates  of  the  University  were  declared,  viz. : 
three  in  Greek,  three  in  Mathematics,  one  in  Chemistry, 
and  three  in  Medicine.  The  graduates  in  Greek  were 
Gessner  Harrison,  Henry  Tutwiler,  and  Robert  M.  T. 
Hunter ;  and  Gessner  Harrison  was  also  one  of  the  three 
graduates  in  Medicine,  with  the  title  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine. 

Expecting  soon  to  enter  upon  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession, the  young  physician  little  imagined  what  awaited 
him.  The  London  University  had  just  been  established, 
and  Mr.  Long,  the  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages,  and 
Mr.  Key,  the  Professor  of  Mathematics,  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  A^irginia,  both  being  Masters  of  Arts,  and  the 
former  a  Fellow,  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  were 
induced  to  return  to  England,  and  take  the  Chairs  of 
Greek  and  Latin  in  the  new  institution.  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  drawn  the  first  professors  nearly  all  from  abroad, 
because  his  University  was  to  be  widely  different  from 
anything  existing  in  America,  and  he  wanted  men  new 
to  the  country.  This  plan  worked  well  as  to  the  instruc- 
tion, though  possibly  the  effect  was  not  so  good  upon 
the  discipline.  Mr.  Long  states  :  "  When  I  was  leaving, 
I  was  consulted  by  some  one  or  more  of  the  visitors 
about  the  choice  of  my  successor.  My  advice  was  not  to 
get  another  professor  from  Englaiid,  for  various  reasons, 
but  particularly  because  I  thought  that  they  had  a  young 
man  who  was  fit  for  the  place,  a  Virginian,  and  I  recom- 


314  MEMORIAL    OF    GESSNER   HARRISOX. 

mend  Harrison."  The  proposition  was  somewhat 
startling.  Mr.  Long  himself  had  become  professor  here 
at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  but  young  Harrison  was 
barely  twenty-one,  and  had  never  been  outside  of  Vir- 
ginia. The  visitors  gave  him  the  appointment  tempo- 
rarily for  one  year,  and  the  next  year  made  it  permanent. 
It  was  truly  an  honor ;  for  the  visitors  who  consulted 
Mr.  Long  were,  as  he  thinks.  Chapman  Johnson  and 
Joseph  C.  Cabell,  and  the  Rector  at  the  time  was  James 
Madison.  But  the  young  appointee  had  scarcely  time 
to  think  of  the  high  compliment,  for  he  was  oppressed 
by  a  sense  of  responsibility,  and  by  an  almost  painful 
self-distrust,  which,  even  several  years  later,  in  his  pri- 
vate letters,  is  still  expressed. 

It  was  a  high  privilege  for  the  youthful  professor  to 
come  into  familiar  association  with  such  men  as  his  early 
colleagues.  He  himself  has  left  brief  sketches  of  some 
of  them  in  a  valuable  article  on  the  University,  which 
he  contributed  to  DuycklncJc's  Cyclopedia  of  American 
Literature,  and  from  which  a  few  sentences  may  be  ex- 
tracted. Of  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Long,  he  says  :  "  A 
man  of  marked  ability  and  attainments,  thoroughly 
trained  in  the  system  of  his  college,  and  having  a  mind 
far  more  than  most  men's  demanding  accuracy  in  the  re- 
sults of  inquiry,  and  scouting  mere  pretension,  he  aimed, 
and  was  fitted,  to  introduce  something  better  than  what 
then  passed  current  as  classical  learning."  Dr.  Blatter- 
mann,  Professor  of  Modern  Languages  until  1840,  a 
German,  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  residing  in 
London,  '^gave  proof  of  extensive  acquirements,  and  of 
a  mind  of  uncommon   natural  vigor  and   penetration. 


MEMOmAL    OF   GESSXER    HARRISON.  315 

In  connection  more  especially  with  the  lessons  on  Ger- 
man and  Anglo-Saxon,  he  gave  to  his  students  much 
that  was  interesting  and  valuable  in  Comparative  Phil- 
ology also,  a  subject  in  which  he  found  peculiar  pleasure/^ 
Mr.  Bonnycastle,  Professor  at  first  of  Natural  Philos- 
ophy, but  of  Mathematics  from  1828  to  his  death,  in 
1841,  was  an  Englishman,  educated  at  Woolwich,  and 
*'  was  distinguished  by  the  force  and  originality  of  his 
mind,  no  less  than  by  his  profound  knowledge  of  Math- 
ematics. His  fine  taste,  cultivated  by  much  reading,  his 
general  knowledge,  and  his  abundant  store  of  anecdote, 
made  him  a  most  agreeable  and  instructive  companion 
to  all ;  and  this,  though  his  really  kind  feelings  were 
partly  hidden  by  a  cold  exterior.'^  Dr.  Emmet,  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry  and  Materia  Medica  till  his  death, 
in  1 842,  was  a  native  of  Dublin,  but  brought  over  in 
childhood  by  his  father,  one  of  the  famous  Irish  pa- 
triots, and  educated  in  New  York.  *^  His  striking 
native  genius,  his  varied  science,  his  brilliant  wit,  his 
eloquence,  his  cultivated  and  refined  taste  for  art,  his 
modesty,  his  warm-hearted  and  cheerful  social  virtues, 
w^on  for  him  the  admiration  and  lasting  regard  of  his 
colleagues  and  of  his  pupils.'^  Dr.  Dunglison,  of  Eng- 
land, Professor  of  Medicine  till  1833,  then  removed  to 
Philadelphia.  He  was  "a  man  of  learning,  in  his  pro- 
fession and  generally,  as  well  as  of  ability,"  and  "gained 
a  wide  celebrity  by  his  distinguished  ability  as  a  lecturer, 
and  by  his  varied  and  valuable  contributions  to  medical 
literature.''  Mr.  George  Tucker,  Professor  of  Moral 
Philosophy  till  he  resigned,  in  1845,  was  a  native  of  Ber- 
muda, but  educated  at  William  and  Mary  College,  Vir- 


316  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISOX. 

ginia.  "  He  was,  for  many  years,  a  member  of  the  legal 
profession,  and,  for  some  time,  a  member  of  Congress 
from  Virginia,'^  where  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  dis- 
cussions on  the  famous  Missouri  Compromise.  "  Before 
his  appointment  to  the  chair  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  he  had 
published,  among  other  writings,  a  volume  of  essays,  char- 
acterized by  the  purity  and  elegance  of  style,  and  by  the 
force  and  clearness  of  thought,  which  mark  his  writings.'^ 
While  Professor,  he  published  the  Life  of  Jeferson,  and 
several  valuable  works  on  his  favorite  subject  of  political 
economy.  After  his  retirement,  when  past  eighty  years 
of  age,  he  issued  a  History  of  the  United  States,  which, 
though  not  attractive  in  style,  is  believed  to  be  unequalled 
as  a  reliable  and  instructive  account  of  the  formation  and 
early  working  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Tucker  ^'brought  to  the  discharge  of  his  duties  a 
mind  remarkable  for  clearness  and  accuracy,  great  in- 
dustry and  thoroughness  of  research,  and  an  extensive 
knowledge  of  men  and  of  books  in  almost  every  depart- 
ment of  learning;  and  he  allowed  no  topic  to  pass  un- 
der review  without  investing  it  with  the  interest  of  orig- 
inal and  searching  investigation.^'  In  private,  he  was  a 
singularly  agreeable  companion,  ready  in  all  subjects  of 
conversation,  abounding  in  wit  and  anecdote  and  felici- 
tous literary  allusion.  John  Tayloe  Lomax,  Professor 
of  Law  from  1826  to  1830,  and  afterwards  a  distin- 
guished judge  in  this  State,  was  a  man  of  signal  ability, 
of  the  highest  purity  and  integrity,  and  enjoyed  through- 
out his  long  career  the  unbounded  respect  and  veneration 
of  the  bench,  the  bar,  and  the  people  of  the  Common- 
wealth.    Ke  published,  after  leaving  the  University,  a 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  317 

Digest  of  the  Law  of  Real  Property,  three  voluraes,  two 
editions,  and  a  Treatise  on  the  Law  of  Executors  arid 
Administrators,  two  volumes,  two  editions.  On  his  re- 
tirement, in  1830,  he  was  immediately  succeeded  by 
Pr(ifessor  John  A.  G.  Davis,  whose  lamented  and  tragic 
death,  ten  years  later,  only  rendered  more  illustrious  his 
abilities  and  virtues. 

Such  were  the  men  whose  admirable  gifts,  attainments 
and  exertions  gave  to  the  University  a  powerful  and 
lasting  impetus.  Our  young  professor,  who  had  read  and 
thought  much,  but  had  not  seen  the  world,  derived  great 
pleasure  and  profit  from  his  early  intercourse  with  these 
men  of  various  accomplishments.  From  the  English 
gentlemen  he  derived  much  as  to  the  nicer  points  of 
English  usage  in  language,  in  which  he  became  critically 
exact.  It  must  have  been  often  noticed,  by  those  who 
knew  Dr.  Harrison  in  middle  life,  how  broad  were  his 
views,  how  catholic  his  sympathies.  In  politics,  in  re- 
ligion, in  science  and  literature,  in  daily  life,  he  had 
decided  opinions,  which  he  would  state  frankly  and  pos- 
itively; and  yet  he  had  a  freedom  from  narrowness,  and 
a  kindly  feeling  towards  those  with  whom  he  widely 
differed,  such  as  seemed  strange  in  one  who  had  scarcely 
traveled  at  all,  nor  ever  mingled  in  the  activities  of 
the  w^orld.  This  was  due  partly  to  his  own  naturally 
well-balanced  mind,  partly  to  intercourse  with  the  early 
colleagues  just  mentioned,  and  most  of  all,  it  is  likely,  to 
the  liberalizing,  broadening  influence  of  profound  class- 
ical studies.  It  is  one  principal  element  in  the  benefit 
derived  from  such  studies  that  we  are  drawn  to  take  a 
lively  interest  in  people  far  remote  and  widely  different 


318  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

from  ourselves,  and  who  yet  command  our  admiration 
and  call  forth  our  sympathies.  Truly  and  lovingly  to 
study  their  history,  institutions  and  life,  their  noble 
languages  and  charming  literature,  is  to  travel,  in 
the  highest  and  best  sense,  far  more  profitably  than 
when  men  "  do  '^  Constantinople  or  St.  Petersburg,  or 
wander,  half  instructed,  among  ruins  they  do  not  com- 
prehend and  inspirations  they  cannot  feel,  in  Athens 
or  in  Rome.  The  materialist  in  education  asks. 
Why  study  dead  languages  and  ancient  history  ?  On 
the  same  principle,  why  travel,  abroad  or  at  home,  ex- 
cept as  a  commercial  traveler?  why  listen  to  the  aged? 
why  ever  talk  to  your  neighbor,  unless  it  be  in  driving  a 
bargain  ?  Such  people — and  the  world  is  full  of  them 
now — do  not  know  the  difference  between  getting  an 
education  and  learning  a  trade. 

Let  it  be  added  that  Dr.  Harrison  often  deplores  in 
his  earlier  letters,  as  he  is  remembered  to  have  done  in 
his  later  years,  the  fact  of  his  going  comparatively  so 
little  into  society.  In  a  university  where  the  schools 
are  independent,  and  each  professor  pushes  the  subject 
in  his  own  way,  there  is,  perhaps,  an  aggravation  of  the 
tendency  felt  everywhere  in  our  hard-driven  modern 
life,  by  which  every  man  is  led  to  confine  himself  too 
exclusively  to  his  own  specialty ;  and  the  daily  news- 
paper, valuable  though  it  be,  is  but  a  poor  substitute  for 
social  intercourse,  where  men  revive  and  broaden  and 
sweeten  their  general  culture  by  free  and  varied 
conversation  upon  the  thousand  topics  of  literature  and 
news  and  sentiment  in  which  all  alike  take  interest. 
When,  and  by  whom,  shall  the  evil  be  corrected  ? 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSXER    HARRISON.  319 

In  December,  1830,  the  young  professor  was  married 
to  Miss  Eliza  Lewis  Carter  Tucker,  daughter  of  Mr. 
George  Tucker,  the  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy. 
This  honored  lady  still  survives,  and  nothing  more  is 
proper  to  say  than  the  remark,  that  one  who  has  known 
her  well  does  not  wonder  w^hen  he  finds  the  husband 
and  father,  in  letters  to  his  bosom  friend  Tutwiler,  con- 
stantly referring  to  the  happiness  he  found,  amid  all 
toils  and  trials,  in  the  society  of  his  v\'ife  and  children. 

Dr.  Harrison  must  liave  seen  at  the  outset,  and  lie 
felt  it  more  and  more  with,  the  advancing  years,  that 
the  professors  of  the  University  must  bear  heavy 
burdens,  and  struggle  against  sore  difficulties,  in  seek- 
ing to  raise  the  standard  of  scholarship,  through  lack 
of  good  preparatory  schooh> ;  and  from  the  nature  of  his 
subject,  and  from  his  own  longer  term  of  service,  this 
struggle  proved  more  severe  for  him  than  for  any  other 
person.  Education  must  work  from  above  downward. 
The  better  education  must  begin  in  the  higher  institu- 
tions, by  preparing  teachers,  so  well  trained,  and  filled 
with  such  a  spirit,  that  they  will  afterwards  send  up 
pupils  much  better  grounded  in  the  elements  than  they 
themselves  were.  Then  the  toiling  professor  can  step  up 
to  a  somewhat  higher  level.  Every  few  years  he  may, 
in  this  way,  take  a  step  a  little  higher,  until,  by  slow 
degrees,  he  lifts  the  whole  mass  into  some  manifest  and 
conscious,  though  still  comparatively  slight,  elevation 
above  its  original  position.  But  the  process  is  greatly 
complicated  and  retarded  by  the  fact  that  only  a  certain 
slowly  increasing  proportion  of  the  students  of  later 
sessions  have  been  prepared  by  his  graduates.     Others, 


320  MEMORIAL   OF    GESSNER    HARRISON. 

and  for  a  long  time  the  great  majority,  have  received 
their  school-boy  training  after  the  old  sluggish  and  un- 
scientific fashion,  and,  for  their  sakes,  the  professor  must 
still  return  to  the  elements.  If  he  now  hurries  more 
rapidly  over  these  elements  than  formerly,  in  order  to 
gain  time  for  carrying  the  course  higher,  he  has  the 
pain  of  seeing  many  worthy  fellows  soon  left  hopelessly 
behind,  and  some  men  of  fine  talents  and  high  ambition 
struggling  in  desperate  and  sometimes  vain  efforts  to 
supply,  with  the  requisite  promptness,  the  defects  of 
their  early  training.  With  these  he  must  deeply  sym- 
pathize; and,  to  lighten  the  struggle  for  them,  he  must 
confine  the  progress  in  his  course  to  slow,  inch  by  inch 
movement,  and  must  unsparingly  give  his  own  time  and 
energies  to  the  work  of  aiding  and  stimulating  their  re- 
vision of  elementary  studies.  Misunderstood  by  many, 
bitterly  complained  of  by  some,  and  suffering  through 
painful  sympathy  with  good  men  who  fail,  he  must 
work  on  through  the  weary  years.  There  is  something 
sublime  in  the  spectacle  of  an  unpretending,  quiet,  but 
deeply  earnest  and  conscientious  man,  with  the  classical 
education  of  a  great  commonwealth,  or  of  whole  States, 
resting  upon  him,  and  slowly,  slowly  lifting  up  himself 
and  his  burden  towards  what  they  are  capable  of  reach- 
ing. It  was  thus  that  Gessner  Harrison  toiled  and 
suffered  in  this  University  for  thirty-one  years.  And 
not  in  vain.  During  the  later  years  of  this  period  ho 
was  accustomed  to  say  that  pupils  were  coming  to  him 
from  the  leading  preparatory  schools  with  a  better 
knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  than  twenty  years  or  so 
before  was  carried  away  by  his  graduates.     It  is  mar- 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  321 

vellous  to  our  older  men,  when  they  remember  how 
generally  and  in  how  high  a  degree  the  standard  of  edu- 
cation was  raised  in  Virginia,  and  in  the  South,  between 
1830  and  1860.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the 
University  of  Virginia  did  this  ;  and  there  is  no  invid- 
ious comparison  in  saying  that,  far  beyond  any  other 
man,  it  was  done  by  the  University  Professor  of  Ancient 
Languages.  The  two  able  scholars  and  admirable 
teachers  who  are  his  successors  to-day  have  had,  since 
the  war,  some  little  experience  in  the  way  of  repeating 
the  process  which  he  carried  on  so  long;  and  each  of 
them  has  repeatedly  volunteered  the  remark,  "  I  hardly 
know  how  we  could  get  on  at  all  if  it  were  not  for 
what  Dr.  Harrison  did  before  us."  He  once  said  to  a 
friend,  who  was  about  to  become  professor  in  a  new  and 
peculiar  institution,  "I  suspect  you  will  have  about 
such  a  lot  as  mine ;  you  will  spend  your  life  in  clearing 
the  ground  and  laying  foundations,  mostly  out  of  sight, 
on  which  more  fortunate  men  may  afterwards  build." 
It  is  pleasant  to  recall  this  saying  in  connection  with  the 
fact  that  his  magnanimous  and  justly  honored  successors 
delight  to  recognize  their  obligation. 

But  it  is  proper  to  notice  more  particularly  the  prog- 
ress of  his  studies  and  teaching  in  the  leading  depart- 
ments of  his  subject. 

Dr.  Harrison  promptly  turned  away  from  the  exist- 
ing English  methods  of  classical  instruction — viz.,  teach- 
ing the  mere  facts  of  Latin  or  Greek  usage  as  facts,  and 
strove  after  the  rational  explanation  and  philosophical 
systematization  of  these  facts.  Hence,  he  turned  with 
lively  interest  to  what  the  Germans  were  beginning  to 
21 


322  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

do — using  it  as  materials  and  encouragement  for  his  own 
laborious  studies.  He  had  already  been  several  years  at 
work  when  the  modern  Science  of  Language  had  its  birth. 
It  is  so  common  to  confine  the  term  "science'^  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  physical  world,  so  common  to  repre- 
sent the  study  of  language  and  literature  as  distinct  from 
science,  and  even  opposed  to  it,  that  many  persons  are 
scarcely  yet  aware  that  there  exists  a  Science  of  Lan- 
guage. Yet  it  does  exist,  has  achieved  the  most  im- 
portant results,  is  making  rapid  progress  every  year,  and 
unquestionably  deserves  the  full  dignity  of  the  name  of 
Science. 

The  science  of  language  first  took  definite  shape  in 
the  first  part  of  Bopp's  Comparative  Grammar,  which 
was  published  in  1833,  the  sixth  and  concluding  part 
not  appearing  till  1852.  Sir  William  Jones,  and  other 
Englishmen  residents  in  India,  had  made  a  knowledge  of 
the  Sanskrit  language  accessible  to  the  scholars  of  Eu- 
rope. All  who  paid  any  attention  to  it  were  struck  with 
the  resemblance  of  this  dead  language  of  India  to  the 
Greek  and  Latin.  The  great  German,  Bopp,  made  a 
laborious  comparison  of  it,  not  only  with  the  classic 
tongues,  but  with  the  other  principal  families  of  lan- 
guages in  Europe.  This  comparison,  as  is  now  well 
known,  furnished  the  means  of  shedding  a  flood  of  light 
upon  the  inflections,  the  word-formation,  and  the  word- 
history,  of  Latin  and  Greek.  A  copy  of  the  earlier  por- 
tions of  Bopp's  work  was  sent  by  Mr.  Long  to  his  suc- 
cessor. Dr.  Harrison,  and  by  him  was  seized  upon  with 
the  greatest  avidity.  Quite  independently,  though  gladly 
comparing  the  similar  work  which  after  some  time  be- 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  323 

gan  to  be  done  in  Germany,  he  applied  Bopp's  materials 
to  the  elucidation  of  the  classic  languages.  His  native 
fondness  for  such  inquiries,  sharpened  by  the  studies  and 
the  teaching  of  several  years,  caused  him  to  take  intense 
delight  in  these  applications  of  Comparative  Etymology 
to  Latin  and  Greek.  All  this  is  now  universal  among 
respectable  professors.  But  for  years  and  years  it  was 
done  in  this  University  alone  of  American  institutions. 
In  fact,  he  was  pushing  these  applications  when  they 
were  still  unknown  in  the  teaching  of  English  Univer- 
sities, and  existed  at  only  a  very  few  points  in  Germany. 
The  present  distinguished  Professor  of  Greek  in  this 
University*  was  in  Germany  from  1850  to  1852,  study- 
ing at  Bonn,  Gottingen  and  Berlin.  Classical  Philolo- 
gians  and  "comparative  philologians'^  were  then  still 
arrayed  in  two  hostile  camps,  and  the  great  teachers 
whose  lectures  he  attended  were,  in  the  main,  unfriendly 
to  the  new  science.  Some  of  them  ridiculed  the  idea  of 
a  man's  having  to  learn  Sanskrit  in  order  to  understand 
and  explain  the  classic  languages.  George  Curtiiis,  the 
mediator  of  the  two  schools,  was  then  a  young  man,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  1820,  and  in  1852,  as  Professor  in 
Prague,  was  beginning  to  publish  works  in  which  Greek 
Grammar  was  reconstructed  on  the  basis  of  Comparative 
Philology.  Upon  entering  the  faculty  of  the  University 
of  Virginia  (1856),  our  accomplished  Professor  found 
that  his  colleague.  Dr.  Harrison,  had  long  been  making 
free  use  of  comparative  philology,  at  a  time  when  in  the 
leading  Universities  of  Germany  it  was  scarcely  at  all 

*  Professor  Gildersleeve,  who  subsequently  removed  to  Johns  Hop- 
kins University. 


324  MEMORIAL  OF   GESSNER  HARRISON. 

applied  to  the  explanation  of  Latin  and  Greek.  It  may  be 
added  that  Dr.  Harrison's  medical  studies  prepared  him 
to  elucidate,  with  special  interest  and  success,  the  phys- 
iological element  of  Language — to  explain  its  relations 
to  the  human  organs  of  speech,  as  well  as  to  the  faculties 
of  the  human  mind. 

These  topics  of  instruction,  which  are  a  matter  of 
course  now,  seemed  far  otherwise  to  most  of  the  Doctor's 
students  in  1835-45.  To  see  the  Professor  exemplify- 
ing with  his  own  organs  the  mode  of  formation  of 
palatals,  Unguals  and  labials  was  a  standing  amusement. 
To  hear  every  day  the  uncouth  names  of  Bopp  and  Pott 
was  odd  to  ears  not  so  familiar  as  all  students  now  are 
with  German  names,  and  provocative  of  that  species  of 
school-boy  wit  which  some  students  find  it  hard  to  out- 
grow. And  to  be  gravely  asked  for  the  case  of  unde  or 
quum  was  the  height  of  absurdity.  The  careful  ex- 
planation of  case- endings,  tense-signs  and  mood-vowels 
seemed ''to  them  a  great  waste  of  their  extremely  precious 
time.  And  "  Old  Gess's  humbuggery  "  was  one  of  the 
mildest  phrases  with  which  free-spoken  young  gentle- 
men described  these  favorite  teachings  of  the  not  yet 
famous  Professor.  There  is  a  stage  of  many  youthful 
minds  when  omne  ignotum  pro  magnifico  must  be 
changed  into  omne  igyiotum  pro  ridiculo.  And  as  we 
look  back  now  we  must  not  be  too  hard  upon  the  boys, 
even  as  we  remember  in  a  kindly  way  the  lad  who 
amused  himself  at  a  crazy  old  gentleman  blowing  soap 
bubbles  from  a  pipe,  and  watching  them  intently  as  they 
floated  and  burst,  not  knowing  that  Sir  Isaac  was  study- 
ing Optics. 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  325 

Had  Dr.  Harrison's  life  been  less  burdened  with  the 
overwhelming  drudgery  of  elementary  instruction,  and 
had  he  been  more  favorably  situated  for  publishing,  it 
is  believed  that  he  would  have  taken  an  active  and 
prominent  part  in  the  advancement  of  Comparative 
Etymology.  He  would  have  increased  his  slender 
knowledge  of  Sanskrit  and  Arabic,  would  have  mas- 
tered the  Turkish  and  Polish,  into  which  he  dipped  with 
so  much  relish,  and  would  have  no  longer  been  depend- 
ent for  materials  upon  Bopp  and  Pott  and  the  rest.  But 
there  was  little  time,  no  sympathy  in  all  the  wide  land, 
and  no  possibility  that  writings  of  this  sort  could  find 
saie  outside  of  Germany.  So  he  confined  himself,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  the  application  of  Comparative  Etymology 
to  Latin  and  Greek.  Most  of  the  etymology,  as  well  as 
the  syntax,  in  his  work  on  Latin  Grammar  was  the  re- 
sult of  his  own  studies.  He  himself  distinctly  says  this, 
in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Tutwiler,  at  the  time  of  its  appear- 
ance. Three  or  four  years  ago  the  book  was  shown  by 
an  American  student  to  Professor  Curtius,  who  is  now 
at  Leipzig,  and  stands  at  the  head  of  all  living  scholars 
in  Comparative  Etymology.  In  returning  it  afterward 
he  said,  "  This  is  a  good  book,  an  excellent  book  for  the 
time  at  which  it  appeared  ;  though,  of  course,  we  have 
got  a  good  way  beyond  it  by  this  time.''  The  time  at 
which  it  appeared  was  1852.  Had  Curtius  known  that 
nearly  all  of  the  etymological  portion,  to  which  alone 
his  attention  was  directed,  had  appeared  in  the  earlier 
volume  which  Dr.  Harrison  printed  for  his  class  in 
1839,  only  six  years  after  Bopp's  first  part  was  pub- 
lished, and   at   least  six   years  before  Curtius  himself 


326  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

made  his  first  publication,  he  would,  doubtless,  have 
used  still  stronger  language. 

Dr.  Harrison  did  not  live  to  publish  anything  on 
Greek  Grammar  in  general ;  but  it  is  hardly  necessary 
to  say  that  he  had  made  as  careful  application  of  Com- 
parative Etymology  to  Greek  as  to  Latin. 

In  the  study  of  Syntax  he  was  still  more  completely 
original.  Here  the  material  was  at  hand,  for  him  as 
well  as  for  others.  His  views  of  the  subject  were  all 
thoroughly  his  own,  were  in  some  cases  absolutely  as 
well  as  relatively  original,  and  were  always  of  great 
practical  value  to  the  student  who  mastered  them.  The 
English  and  American  Grammars  existing  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  thirty  years'  work  gave  only  empiri- 
cal rules  of  syntax.  The  tendency  of  the  German 
works  on  syntax,  as  most  notably  exemplified  by 
Kuhner,  whose  complete  Greek  Grammar  appeared  in 
1834-35,  was  to  construct  a  priori  theories  of  syntax, 
and  then  ingeniously  explain  the  facts  of  the  language 
to  suit  the  theory.  Of  late  years,  the  English  works 
have  tended  to  be  more  philosophical,  and  the  German 
to  be  more  practical,  than  was  then  the  case.  Dr.  Har- 
rison constructed  his  system  of  syntax  upon  the  true 
inductive  method :  he  collected  and  compared  the  facts, 
analyzed  and  arranged  them,  and  gradually  worked  his 
way  back  to  such  fundamental  principles  as  seemed  to 
comprehend  them  ;  then  returning,  he  sought,  by  the 
help  of  these  principles,  to  explain  the  facts  as  they 
occur,  and  so  the  process  was  complete.  To  his  better 
pupils  it  was  often  delightful  to  see  how  completely  he 
would  explain  the  exact  meaning  of  some  obscure  or 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  327 

uncommon  expression  by  the  application  of  the  great 
and  simple  principles  he  had  taught,  and  how  satisfac- 
torily these  principles  would  guide  them,  when  once 
really  understood,  through  the  task  of  composing  in 
the  languages  studied. 

Syntax  is  a  high  and  difficult  branch  of  metaphysics. 
In  all  metaphysical  inquiries  there  is  room  for  differ- 
ence of  opinion.  It  is  not  necessary  to  maintain  that 
Hamilton  is  everywhere  correct,  in  order  to  hold  that 
his  system  is,  in  a  high  degree,  able  and  instructive. 
And  so  here.  Independent  inquirers  will,  of  course, 
differ  as  to  various  theories  of  syntax.  Other  views 
may  seem  to  some  of  us  better  on  this  point  or  that,  or 
even  in  general,  and  yet  it  may  remain  true  that  the 
system  before  us  is  eminently  instructive  and  practi- 
cally useful. 

Besides  the  work  on  Latin  Grammar,  in  Dr.  Harri- 
son's later  treatise  On  the  Greek  Prepositions  and  the 
Cases  of  Nouns  with  which  they  are  used  (published  in 
1858),  his  truly  philosophical,  thoroughly  inductive 
method  of  inquiry  is,  if  possible,  still  more  strikingly 
exhibited.  It  was  a  task  of  immense  labor.  Besides 
gathering  from  all  existing  collections,  he  often  spent 
many  days  in  hunting  up,  from  Greek  writers  of  every 
period,  better  examples,  or  new  uses,  of  a  certain  prepo- 
sition. Every  particular  use  of  it  was  carefully  ana- 
lyzed. Nothing  was  considered  as  settled  by  previous 
inquiry.  Then,  by  gradual  generalization,  a  theory  was 
sought  which,  in  the  language  often  employed  as  to 
physical  science,  would  '^account  for  the  phenomena." 
He  was  full  of  enthusiasm  for  his  inquiries.     A  friend. 


328  MEMORIAL  OF  GESSJSTER   HARRISON. 

who  had  some  special  sympathy  with  them,  dropped  in 
to  dinner  one  day,  and,  when  the  doctor  entered,  he 
could  scarce  take  time  to  say  grace,  before,  in  a  voice 
tremulous  and  eager,  he  said :  "  I  think  I  have  found 
it,  sir ;  I  am  almost  sure  I  have  got  the  true  explana- 
tion ofmeta  with  the  accusative  in  the  sense  of  'after.'" 
Beautiful  enthusiasm  !  The  would-be  wise,  the  boast- 
fully practical  world  will  sneer.  But  there  is  hardly 
anything  so  much  needed  in  America  to-day,  save  hon- 
esty and  the  fear  of  God,  as  this  very  enthusiasm  for 
pure  science,  as  the  spirit  that  will  toil,  no  matter  how 
long,  to  find  out  something,  and  will  then  break  forth 
into  its  joyous  Eurekaj  in  the  dear  delight  of  added 
knowledge,  not  yet  stopping  to  ask  how  far  the  discov- 
ery will  be  of  practical  utility.  Heaven  send  us  more 
of  such  men — not  visionary  dreamers,  but  sagacious, 
patient  and  enthusiastic  inquirers  after  truth. 

Dr.  Harrison's  books  were  both  of  them  too  difficult, 
and  The  Greek  Prepositions^  particularly,  was  too  high 
above  the  ordinary  range  of  classical  studies  in  this  coun- 
try to  become  popular.  They  both  paid  expenses,  the  latter 
only  because  it  was  published  by  subscription.  It  was 
his  purpose  to  publish  elementary  works,  and  refer  the 
teachers  and  more  advanced  pupils  who  used  them  to 
these  higher  treatises.  Many  other  plans  he  had — e.  g., 
to  discuss  the  Greek  Conjunctions  as  thoroughly  as  he 
had  done  the  prepositions.  Meantime,  the  two  works 
have  not  been  without  gratifying  recognition  of  their 
value.  The  Latin  Grammar  is  still  used  in  the  Uni- 
versity and  some  other  institutions.  The  Greek  Prepo- 
sitions has  been  much  employed  by  various  students  of 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  329 

Biblical  Philology.  Bishop  Ellicott,  the  foremost  gram- 
matical commentator  in  England,  has  spoken  of  it  in 
high  terms.  Mr.  George  Long  was  deriving  much  prac- 
tical help  from  it  last  year  in  the  translation  of  a  diffi- 
cult Greek  author.  Dr.  Addison  Alexander,  perhaps  the 
leading  scholar  in  Biblical  learning  that  this  country  has 
yet  produced,  wrote  to  the  author  that  he  had  read  every 
word  of  both  his  works  with  unfailing  interest  and  much 
profit ;  and  this,  though  at  the  time  he  was  not  teaching 
either  Latin  or  Greek.  Dr.  Alexander  criticised  the 
Latin  Grammar  as  too  condensed  in  style,  too  difficult 
for  the  ordinary  student,  and  when  the  Greek  Freposi- 
tions  appeared,  he  said  its  style  showed  great  improve- 
ment in  this  respect.  Both  statements  were,  no  doubt, 
correct.  Dr.  Harrison^s  style  of  writing  can  scarcely  be 
considered  felicitous.  In  all  his  earlier  publications, 
including  the  Latin  GrammaTj  he  aimed  too  much  at 
compression,  partly  from  the  extreme  desire  to  keep  down 
the  number  of  pages,  through  the  well-grounded  fear 
that  books  suited  only  to  the  higher  class  of  students, 
and  from  a  Southern  author,  would  find  but  little  sale. 
In  the  Greek  Prepositions  he  indulged  more  in  expan- 
sion and  variety  of  statement ;  but  here  the  nature  of  the 
subject,  the  very  idea  of  five  hundred  octavo  pages  about 
Greek  cases  and  prepositions,  has  restricted  the  volume 
to  an  extremely  narrow  circle  of  readers.  Yet  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  any  book  has  ever  appeared  in  Amer- 
ica, if  indeed  any  has  appeared  in  Great  Britain,  that 
belongs  to  so  elevated  a  plane  of  philological  study,  that 
so  surely  stamps  its  author  as  having  been,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  philology,  a  great  man.     Would  that  the  work 


330  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

might  be  so  brought  to  the  notice  of  true  scholars  in 
America  and  England  as  yet  to  find  ^'  fit  audience, 
though  few." 

It  may  be  added  that  as  a  lecturer  Dr.  Harrison's 
style,  though  peculiar  and  having  obvious  faults,  was 
much  better  than  in  writing.  He  had  not  a  ready  com- 
mand of  expression  ;  and  his  first  statements  of  an  idea 
were  often  partial,  involved  and  obscure.  But  he  per- 
fectly knew — a  thing  not  very  common — when  he  had, 
and  when  he  had  not,  made  himself  clear.  He  would 
try  variety  of  expression,  searching  for  the  right  word 
or  phrase,  would  approach  the  thought  from  different 
directions,  gradually  closing  in  till  he  seized  it ;  and 
when  he  reached  his  final  expression  it  was  vigorous, 
clear,  complete.  Then  he  would  watch  his  audience 
with  lively  interest,  and  if  he  saw  many  clouded  faces, 
would  repeat  his  process,  with  all  manner  of  illustration 
and  iteration,  till  at  last,  the  greater  part  of  them  could 
see  clearly.  This  close  observation  of  the  class,  this  sym- 
pathy with  their  eiforts  to  understand,  and  unwearied 
pains  in  helping  them  through  difficulties,  is  one  of  the 
surest  marks  of  the  true  teacher.  He  made  constant  use 
of  the  blackboard,  often  drawing  quaint  diagrams  to  as- 
sist the  comprehension  of  the  abstractions  of  syntax,  and 
he  enlivened  attention  by  frequent  and  apparently  spon- 
taneous gushes  of  a  homely  humor,  as  racy  as  it  was 
peculiar. 

There  is  space  for  only  brief  mention  of  his  work  in 
other  departments  of  the  school.  In  his  early  years  he 
devoted  much  study  to  Greek  and  Koman  Geography 
and  History,  there  being  no  text-books  on  those  subjects 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  331 

that  were  at  all  satisfactoiyo     In  1831  he  was  already 
laboriously  rewriting  his   lectures   on  the  Geography, 
constantly   going  to  the  original   sources  and   finding 
Cramer,  and  even  Mannert,  to  be  full  of  blunders.     In 
1834,  six  years  after  he  began,  he  printed  in  pamphlet 
form  a  condensed  treatise  on  the  Geography  of  Ancient 
Italy  and  Southern  Greece,  with  outlines  of  the  History, 
to  be  used  as  a  text  for  his  prelections.    It  had  cost  him 
great  labor,  and  was  full  of  valuable  matter,  but  having 
designed  it  to  be  a  mere  syllabus,  and  expecting  to  lose 
money  on  the  printing,  he  condensed  too  much,  and  it  was, 
doubtless,  hard  work  to  pull  the  classes  through  it.    This 
is  the  old  story  as  to  all  higher  instruction  in  history 
and  geography.     Without  the  details,  one  has  difficulty 
in  making  it  interesting,  and  for  the  details  there  is  no 
time.     To  overcome  these  difficulties  requires  a  specific 
talent,  which  Dr.  Harrison  did  not  in  a  high  degree  pos- 
sess. In  later  years  he  spent  less  time  in  teaching  Ancient 
Geography,  but  he  always  insisted  much  on  the   im- 
portance of  Geography  to  the  study  of  History,  and  took 
pains  to  point  out  those  physical  peculiarities  of  Italy 
and  Greece  which  manifestly  contributed  to  form  the 
character  of  the  people  and  to  shape  their  history—a 
view  comparatively  unfamiliar  at  that  time,  and  which, 
to  some  of  his  pupils,  was  full  of  interest  and  inspira- 
tion.    In  History  he  seized  at  the  outset  upon  the  ideas 
of  Niebuhr,  and  even  in  the  first  half  of  his  career 
made  a  great  impression  upon  at  least  a  few  mmds, 
though  greatly  hindered  by  the  lack  of  a  text-book.    In 
the  latter  half  he  was  cheered  and  assisted  by  the  ap- 
pearance oi  Arnold's  Eome  and  Grote's  Greece,  followed 


332  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

by  manuals  not  ill-suited  to  the  wants  of  his  classes. 
There  was  then  in  the  University  no  Professor  of  His- 
tory in  general,  and  many  remember  as  an  epoch  in 
their  lives  the  views  of  history  and  the  enthusiasm  for 
its  study  which  they  derived  from  Dr.  Harrison. 

As  to  the  aesthetic  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of 
classic  literature,  he  felt  an  exceeding  desire  that  his 
students  should  attain  to  this  in  the  highest  possible 
degree.  Though  not  himself  a  literary  artist,  he  had 
an  intense  love  of  the  beautiful,  in  nature,  in  art  and 
in  literature.  When  he  paused  to  remark  upon  the 
beauty  of  a  passage,  it  v/as  with  a  contagious  enjoy- 
ment ;  and  he  would  sometimes  read  a  choral  ode  with 
rare  felicity  of  tone  and  expression.  Yet  there  was 
comparatively  little  of  this,  for  several  reasons.  He  re- 
garded the  cultivation  of  the  intellectual  powers  which 
is  derived  from  the  philosophical  study  of  language  as 
more  important  than  the  cultivation  of  taste ;  and,  em- 
barrassed by  lack  of  time  and  the  deficient  preparation 
of  his  pupils,  he  did  mainly  that  which  he  thought  most 
needful,  and  which  best  accorded  with  his  own  pre- 
dominant tendencies  of  mind.  He  thought  that  for  the 
student  to  gain  for  himself,  through  his  ow^n  compre- 
hension of  the  original,  some  glimpses  of  the  charms  of 
classic  literature,  was  more  suggestive  and  inspiring  than 
to  hear  or  read  much  eloquent  description  and  eulogy 
of  those  charms  from  others ;  and  he  probably  under- 
rated the  value  of  mere  information  concerning  the  clas- 
sic writers  and  writings  as  tending  to  awaken  interest. 
Besides,  he  was  working  for  the  future.  He  once  said 
to  a  Greek  class,  '^  Gentlemen,  I  have  no  doubt  the  time 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  333 

will  come  in  the  University  when  some  happy  professor 
will  ask  his  class,  as  a  preparation  for  his  next  lecture, 
to  read  over  a  certain  book  of  Herodotus,  or  oration  of 
Demosthenes,  or  play  of  Sophocles,  and  they  will  readily 
do  it."  That  was  his  notion  of  what  would  prepare 
students  for  hearing  lectures  on  the  literature. 

One  thing  remains  to  this  account  of  Dr.  Harrison^s 
University  career,  viz. :  to  speak  of  the  part  which  he  took 
in  the  discipline  and  general  management.  Mr.  Jefferson's 
policy  had  proposed  the  largest  liberty  to  the  students, 
and  most  of  his  English  professors,  in  accordance  with 
the  usage  at  the  English  universities,  were  inclined  to 
take  little  account  of  the  student's  private  life,  caring 
only  for  his  lessons  and  examinations.  This  soon  led  to 
license  and  riot,  even  during  the  first  session  ;  and  the 
tendency  then  arose  to  react  toward  the  opposite  and 
familiar  extreme  of  strict  control  and  constant  interfer- 
ence. The  result  was  that  for  a  number  of  years  the 
University  passed  through  sore  trials.  Very  few  of  the 
young  men  were  at  that  time  controlled  by  religious 
principle,  not  a  few  were  vicious  and  violent,  parental 
influence  and  example  were  often  injudicious,  if  not  pos- 
itively bad,  while  the  discipline  kept  varying,  accoiding 
to  the  conflicting  or  changing  opinions  of  chairman,  fac- 
ulty and  board,  between  the  extremes  of  laxity  and 
severity.  Dr.  Harrison  was,  in  his  second  session,  vio- 
lently assailed  by  a  student  who  had  formerly  been  his 
fellow-student,  and  would  not  tolerate  rebuke  from  him. 
Ten  years  later  a  dismissed  student  attacked  him  with 
brutal  violence,  and  another  young  man,  who  had  been  a 
student   the   previous   session,  entered   his   study  with 


334  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNEK   HARRISON. 

weapons  displayed,  and  with  the  most  abusive  language 
threatened  his  life.  By  degrees  there  was  a  change;  the 
character  of  the  students  improved,  and  the  views  of 
the  authorities  became  modified.  The  genei'al  tone 
of  society  was  rising.  Christian  influences  became 
active  in  the  University,  and  gradually  strengtliened. 
In  1833  a  chaplain  was  appointed,  an  eloquent  Method- 
ist preacher,  chiefly  through  the  influence  and  exertions 
of  Dr.  Harrison,  who  had  joined  the  Methodist  Church 
a  year  before,  and  was  the  only  professor  of  religion  in 
the  Faculty.  Slowly  things  grew  better,  varying  much 
according  to  the  personal  character  of  the  chairman. 
Mr.  Jefierson's  scheme  had  been  that  each  of  the  pro- 
fessors should  be  chairman  for  one  year  in  regular  rota- 
tion. This  was  soon  altered  into  the  plan  of  selecting, 
according  to  supposed  fitness  and  willingness  to  serve, 
for  one  or  two  years,  but  never  more  than  two  without 
interruption.  In  this  way  Dr.  Harrison  was  chairman 
from  1837  to  1839,  and  then,  passing  over  a  year,  from 
1840  to  1842,  with  what  special  results  it  is  not  known. 
In  the  next  few  years  there  were  great  disturbances.  In 
1845-46  that  singularly  good  and  judicious  man,  Mr. 
Courtney,  was  chairman.  It  is  believed  by  the  present 
senior  professor  that  to  Mr.  Courtney  is  especially  due  the 
honor  of  clearly  perceiving  that  the  discipline  had  been 
passing  from  one  extreme  to  the  other  and  that  a  differ- 
ent course  must  be  adopted,  not  exactly  seeking  the 
golden  mean,  but  seeking  the  combination  of  liberty 
and  law.  On  this  subject  Mr.  Courtney  often  anxiously 
conferred  with  Dr.  Cabell  and  Dr.  Harrison.  Whoever 
it  may  have  been  that  first  clearly  perceived  all  this,  it 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  335 

was  Dr.  Harrison  who  carried  it  into  execution,  and 
gradually  established  as  the  policy  of  the  university 
that  method  of  discipline  which  need  not  be  here  par- 
ticularly described,  because  it  still  exists,  and  in  judi- 
cious hands,  together  with  the  growing  improvement  in 
the  average  character  of  our  homes  and  our  youth,  is 
attended  now  by  such  admirable  results.  Of  course,  it 
was  the  Faculty  as  a  whole  that  made  the  change,  and 
the  Chairman  could  have  done  nothing  save  as  sustained 
by  at  least  a  majority  of  his  colleagues.  But  the  Chair- 
man bore  the  brunt,  worked  out  the  ideas,  proved  a 
different  kind  of  discipline  to  be  practicable.  Dr.  Har- 
rison was  made  Chairman  in  1847,  with  no  thought  of 
serving  more  than  one  or  two  years;  but  again  and 
again  it  was  urged  upon  him,  pressed  upon  him,  almost 
forced  upon  him,  and  toward  the  last  sorely  against  his 
will.  The  venerable  Rector,  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Cabell,  and 
other  eminent  visitors,  would  personally  entreat  him  to 
continue  in  the  office.  And  so  he  served  seven  years,  a 
thing  then  quite  without  precedent,  and  was  at  last  most 
unwillingly  allowed  by  the  Board  to  resign.  Though 
he  doubtless  made  mistakes  in  opinion  and  in  action,  yet 
his  general  course  as  Chairman  cannot  be  described 
otherwise  than  as  eminently  wise  and  successful ;  and  it 
gained  for  him  a  very  general  and  high  admiration, 
both  within  and  without  the  University.  But  when  the 
number  of  students  had  reached  three,  four  and  five 
hundred,  the  duties  of  Chairman,  added  to  those  of  Pro- 
fessor of  both  Latin  and  Greek,  became  excessively  bur- 
densome, especially  for  a  man  extremely  accommodating 
and  self-sacrificing,  and  full  of  kind  feeling  toward  all 


336  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

youths  who  were  not  radically  bad,  a  man  who  worked 
slowly  through  details  and  never  slighted  anything  if 
he  could  help  it,  and  a  man  who  believed  that  it  was  far 
better  to  dispose  of  difficulties  without  formal  action  of 
the  Faculty  whenever  that  was  possible. 

This  brings  us  to  speak  of  the  circumstances  which 
finally  led  Dr.  Harrison  to  withdraw  from  the  Uni- 
versity. Through  all  his  career  he  had  groaned  under 
the  burden  of  what  he  felt  to  be  excessive  and  often  un- 
satisfying labor.  As  has  just  been  said,  he  naturally 
worked  slowly.  He  had,  too,  an  extreme  desire  to  do 
things  with  thoroughness,  to  examine  for  himself  every 
part  of  every  subject  with  which  he  dealt.  Keceiving 
students  in  general  very  ill  prepared,  he  could  not  raise 
the  standard  of  classical  scholarship  save  by  submitting 
to  much  grievous  drudgery  in  the  correction  of  written 
exercises,  and  to  the  loss  of  time  in  reading  with  extra 
classes,  etc.  When  the  number  of  students  rose  to 
several  hundred,  and  his  own  school,  from  having  been 
one  of  the  smallest  for  the  first  few  years,  became  one  of 
the  largest  in  the  University,  the  burden  of  correcting 
exercises  became  intolerable.  In  1851  an  assistant  in- 
structor was  given  him,  especially  to  aid  in  the  exercises, 
and  a  similar  arrangement  made  for  Mathematics  and 
Modern  Languages.  In  1855  his  school  was  divided 
and  he  chose  the  chair  of  Latin  ;  but  now  without  an 
assistant,  it  being,  in  fact,  peculiarly  difficult  to  make  the 
plan  of  assistants  w^ork  well  in  the  ancient  languages. 

Another  difficulty  which  pressed  upon  him  was  that 
of  inadequate  support.  It  had  been  thought  necessary 
to  limit  the  salaries  of  the  professors  to  $3,000  ;  and, 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  337 

with  the  diminished  value  of  money  through  the  influx 
of  California  gold  and  other  causes,  Dr.  Harrison  found 
this  insufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  a  very  large  and 
necessarily  expensive  family.  Most  of  his  children  were 
still  to  be  educated,  many  of  them  quite  young.  He 
could  not  teach  them  himself,  could  make  no  satisfactory 
and  permanent  arrangement  for  having  them  taught  at 
home,  and  had  not  the  means  of  sending  them  to 
boarding-schools.  He  was  oppressed  to  find  that,  while 
working  so  hard,  he  could  not  lay  by  a  dollar,  and 
could  not  secure  the  education  of  his  younger  children. 
His  life-long  friend  and  correspondent  in  Alabama  had 
long  before  left  the  professor's  chair  to  take  charge  of  a 
boarding-school  for  boys,  and  had  found  it  very  profita- 
ble and  not  excessively  unpleasant.  Dr.  Harrison 
thought  of  taking  the  same  course,  that  he  might  edu- 
cate his  younger  children  himself,  and  might  make 
some  pecuniary  provision  for  the  future.  He  also 
thought  that,  in  connection  with  the  conduct  of  such  a 
school,  he  could  prepare  elementary  works  in  Latin  and 
Greek,  which  would  bring  his  elaborate  treatises  into 
greater  demand,  and  pave  the  way  for  executing  his  yet 
higher  schemes  of  authorship.  Accordingly,  in  1856, 
he  arranged  for  the  purchase  of  a  plantation  beyond 
Montioello,  and  proposed  to  resign  his  professorship. 
The  idea  excited  universal  regret  and  consternation 
among  the  friends  of  the  University,  for  he  was  now 
widely  famous  and  greatly  admired.  Finding  that  his 
great  concern  w^as  for  his  family,  the  Board  of  Visitors 
proposed  to  remove,  in  his  case,  the  limit  upon  salary, 
and  give  him  the  whole  proceeds  of  his  school.  He 
22 


338  MEMORIAT.   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

shrank  from  such  a  discrimination  as  on  many  accounts 
undesirable,  but  urged  to  it  by  members  of  the  Board 
and  generous  colleagues,  who  insisted  that  his  long-con- 
tinued and  eminently  useful  services  to  the  University 
entitled  him  to  the  distinction,  he  consented  to  remain, 
to  the  great  joy  of  the  students  and  the  country.  Some 
of  the  Visitors,  however,  were  dissatisfied  with  what 
had  been  done,  and  procured,  in  1857,  the  passage  of  a 
resolution  that  the  arrangement  which  had  been  made 
with  Dr.  Harrison  was  not  of  the  nature  of  a  contract. 
He  considered  that  it  was,  as  the  Board  had  themselves 
proposed  it,  had  thereby  induced  him  to  withdraw  his 
resignation,  and  had  made  no  reserve  or  limitation  at  the 
time.  The  consequence  was  that  unpleasant  feelings 
arose  between  him  and  certain  prominent  members  of 
the  Board,  and  some  efforts  to  remove  the  difficulty  only 
increased  it.  The  question  who  was  right  and  who  was 
wrong  is  not  a  proper  one  to  be  here  discussed.  The 
University  has  need  of  the  united  support  of  all  her 
sons,  and  those  who  think  they  have  something  to  for- 
give in  the  past  ought,  for  her  sake,  to  be  forgiving.  In 
1859  Dr.  Harrison  thought  himself  compelled,  in  self- 
respect,  to  resign,  having  been  professor  in  the  Univer- 
sity for  thirty-one  years. 

Though  not  now  wholly  unexpected,  his  resignation 
caused  the  greatest  grief.  The  students  of  the  session 
presented  him,  on  the  Public  Day,  a  service  of  plate, 
and  no  one  who  was  present  can  forget  his  reply — so 
simple  and  sincere,  with  so  much  of  tender  regard  for 
them  and  for  the  University,  and  of  unaffected  humility 
and  delicacy. 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRLSOX.  339 

The  rest  of  the  story  may  be  briefly  told.  His  school 
for  boys  for  the  first  year,  in  the  upper  part  of  this 
county,  was  very  successful  and  profitable,  though  the 
conduct  and  profits  of  the  boarding  department  per- 
tained to  another.  In  1860  he  purchased  a  plantation 
in  Nelson  County,  and  made  extensive  arrangements, 
beginning  with  one  hundred  scholars,  and  with  very 
bright  prospects  in  almost  every  respect.  His  old  pu- 
pils in  Virginia  and  the  Gulf  States  were  eager  to  put 
their  sons  under  his  charge.  But  for  the  war,  he  could 
hardly  have  failed  of  signal  success.  He  was  only 
fifty-three  years  old,  and  apparently  in  very  firm 
health.  He  was  full  of  enthusiasm  for  his  new  under- 
taking, was  relieved  by  at  least  a  change  of  burdens, 
his  early  love  of  country  life  was  gratified,  and  he  had 
many  proofs  of  such  wide-spread  esteem  and  apprecia- 
tion throughout  the  South  as  has  seldom  fallen  to  the 
lot  of  an  American  professor.  But  for  the  war-cloud 
which  was  rising  in  the  horizon,  he  would  have  enjoyed, 
in  that  autumn  of  1860,  no  ordinary  measure  of  happi- 
ness. But  before  the  session  ended  the  war  had  begun. 
Half  his  pupils  had  left,  the  rest  found  it  very  difficult, 
to  pursue  their  daily  tasks,  and  the  collections  for  the 
session  could  not  be  made.  Having  incurred  heavy 
pecuniary  liabilities  for  the  plantation  and  the  build- 
ings, he  could  not  but  feel  grave  perplexity  and  appre- 
hension. His  greatest  trouble  was,  as  he  wrote  to  his 
bosom  friend,  Tutwiler,  that  he  could  not  make  a  con- 
tribution of  money  to  the  government  at  Richmond,  as 
he  had  hoped  to  do.  But  he  was  thankful  that  he  had 
three  or  four  sons  who  would  enter  the  army.     He  was 


340  MEMOPwIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

intensely  interested  in  the  struggle.  Having  opposed 
separate  secession  as  impolitic,  he  yet  fully  believed  in 
the  justice  of  the  Southern  cause  in  general.  And  while 
wise  enough  to  foresee,  as  so  many  among  us  did  not, 
that  the  conflict  would  be  protracted  and  terrible,  he  de- 
clares, in  strong  terms,  that  it  must  be  fought  through. 

In  the  autumn  of  1861  he  opened  a  third  session,  and 
pupils  were  not  wanting.  But  pecuniary  difficulties, 
deep  concern  for  the  country,  and  yearning  anxiety  as 
to  the  welfare,  in  body  and  soul,  of  his  sons  who  were 
in  the  army,  together  with  the  labor  of  teaching,  told 
upon  his  health.  He  did  not  seem  to  be  sick,  but  his 
appetite  became  capricious,  and  he  appeared  to  be  de- 
pressed. Late  in  the  autumn  one  of  his  sons  was  brought 
home  very  ill  with  camp-fever,  and  continued  ill  for 
several  months.  The  father  insisted  on  nursing  him. 
He  was  a  singularly  good  nurse  for  the  sick,  a  thing 
rare  among  me?i,  and  a  not  unimportant  indication  of 
character.  In  the  trying  spring  season,  toiling  all  day 
as  a  teacher  and  oppressed  with  many  cares,  he  would 
spend  the  night  in  watching  beside  the  sick-bed.  He 
had  never  known  what  it  was  to  spare  himself  when 
tliere  was  a  demand  for  toil  and  sacrifice,  and,  notwith- 
standing remonstrances,  he  continued  this  course.  The 
youth  was  very  ill,  and  it  is  believed  that  his  life  was 
saved  by  this  faithful,  tender  and  skilful  nursing.  But 
in  so  doing,  alas!  the  father  laid  down  his  own  life. 
He  became  sick  with  a  disease  obscure  at  the  time,  but, 
no  doubt,  a  modification  of  the  fever  from  which  his  son 
was  beginning  to  recover.  He  would  not  stay  in  bed, 
but  would   lie,  with  a  weary  yet  patient  look,  on  the 


MEMORIAL  OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  341 

louDge,  and  the  family  had  no  idea  how  ill  he  was. 
One  morning  there  came  suddenly  a  violent  chill,  and 
he  lay  unable  to  speak.  He  looked  longingly  at  his 
wife  and  children,  strove  vainly  to  speak,  then  turned 
his  gazing  eyes  straight  up  to  heaven,  and  in  a  little 
while  he  was  gone.  This  was  the  7th  of  April,  1862, 
when  he  was  not  yet  fifty-five  years  old. 

Some  traits  of  Dr.  Harrison's  character  have  appeared 
in  the  course  of  this  narrative,  but  it  will  be  proper,  in 
conclusion,  to  speak  of  his  character  in  general. 

For  nothing  was  he  more  remarkable  than  his  robust 
common  sense.  He  applied  this  not  merely  to  common 
things,  but  to  his  philological  studies.  The  inductive 
method  of  inquiry  means  common  sense,  as  opposed  to 
mere  speculative  theorizing.  A  person  who  had  a  right 
to  speak  so  familiarly  once  asked  Dr.  Harrison  how  he 
had  gained  his  original  views  of  syntax.  He  answered 
that  he  knew  of  nothing  peculiar  in  his  methods,  unless 
it  were  that  he  tried  to  study  language  in  a  plain,  com- 
mon-sense way.  Along  with  this,  or  rather  as  a  part  of 
it,  he  had  a  very  sound  judgment.  When  he  thoroughly 
understood  a  question  and  had  patiently  considered  it, 
his  judgment  was  exceedingly  apt  to  be  correct.  Of 
course  he  had  his  prejudices,  of  course  he  sometimes 
erred,  but  those  who  knew  him  best  learned  to  have  the 
greatest  confidence  in  his  judgment.  His  examination 
of  all  questions,  in  study  or  in  practical  life,  was  marked 
by  patient  thinking,  that  sublimest  of  intellectual  vir- 
tues ;  and  his  studies  were  all  conducted  with  the  steady 
industry  which  ought  to  be  so  common,  but  is  so  rare, 
which  is  the  condition  of  accurate  scholarship,  of  all 


342  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

substantial  and  symmetrical  knowledge.  It  is  true  that, 
ill  apparent  contrast  with  these  qualities,  he  appeared 
given  to  procrastination.  But  for  this  there  were  causes 
not  implying  a  lack  of  industry  or  perseverance.  From 
the  beginning,  as  we  have  seen,  he  was  overworked. 
The  tendency  of  the  University  system,  with  its  inde- 
pendent schools,  is  to  stimulate  every  professor  to  do  his 
utmost.  The  great  lack  of  preparation  in  ancient  lan- 
guages, and  the  professor's  extreme  desire  to  raise  the 
standard,  had  led  him  to  excessive  labor.  Though  care- 
ful of  his  health  in  many  respects,  he  almost  constantly 
denied  himself  the  requisite  sleep,  and  thus  lived  a  little 
below  par  as  to  physical  vigor — a  state  of  things  which 
always  inclines  one  to  postpone  his  more  difficult  tasks. 
But  the  chief  cause  was,  that  working  slowly,  and  con- 
stitutionally incapable  of  doing  anything  superficially, 
he  never  felt  himself  to  be  fully  ready,  as  for  the  com- 
position of  an  important  report,  or  the  immediate  prep- 
aration of  a  lecture,  and,  in  the  hope  of  more  thoroughly 
mastering  the  subject,  he  would  delay  as  long  as  possible. 
Meantime,  this  delaying  tended  to  become  habitual,  and 
interruptions  from  without  multiplied  upon  him,  until, 
in  his  later  years,  his  report  as  chairman  was  rarely 
written  and  his  examination  papers  hardly  ever  read  till 
the  last  moment.  This  habit  of  postponement — it  was 
not  exactly  what  we  call  procrastination  —  was  the  sub- 
ject with  him  of  much  regret  and  self-condemnation. 
Whether  the  explanations  which  have  been  offered  be 
correct  or  not,  it  is  certain  that,  notwithstanding  the  habit 
in  question,  he  exhibited  a  very  high  degree  of  patient 
industry. 


MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  343 

Dr.  Harrison  was  a  man  of  great  courage,  both  phys- 
ical and  moral.  The  present  senior  professor  says  he 
has  seen  no  man  with  a  larger  measure  of  moral  cour- 
age ;  that  he  was  as  unflinching  as  a  rock.  He  had  an 
unutterable  contempt  for  sham  and  pretentiousness,  and 
himself  never  failed  to  speak  and  act  with  sincerity  and 
candor.  His  generosity  of  nature  was  conspicuous,  not 
merely  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  term,  but  in  the 
broadest  sense.  He  once  remarked,  in  speaking  confiden- 
tially of  another  person,  that  a  man  is  not  fitted  to  be  a 
professor  unless  he  has  a  generous  soul ;  that  however 
plausible  his  exterior,  he  will  not  long  continue  to  win 
the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  best  young  men  if 
there  is  any  meanness  in  his  make.  That  beautiful  del- 
icacy which  we  so  much  admire  in  women — delicate  con- 
sideration for  the  feelings  of  others,  and  delicate  tact 
in  sparing  their  feelings,  even  when  something  difficult 
or  painful  has  to  be  said — was  constantly  seen  in  Dr. 
Harrison's  conversation  and  actions.  In  his  family 
relations  it  was  simply  charming.  In  dealing  with  stu- 
dents who  had  misbehaved,  he  often  showed  true  delicacy 
by  perfect  directness  of  speech.  His  first  assistant  in- 
structor was  a  member  of  his  family  and  occupied  a 
study  adjoining  his  own,  with  the  door  between  them 
left  open.  It  thus  happened  that  he  frequently  heard 
the  Chairman  talking  to  some  fellow  who  had  been 
summoned  before  him  for  misconduct.  It  was  really 
beautiful  to  see  the  straightforward,  downright,  and  yet 
perfectly  kind  fashion,  in  which  he  talked.  It  constantly 
reminded  one  of  a  skilful  physician  probing  a  wound 
— prompt,  steady,  effectual,  and  thus  most  truly  kind. 


344  MEMORIAL   OF   GESSNER   HARRISON. 

For  warmth  of  affection  to  kindred  and  many  cher- 
ished friends,  for  singular  unselfishness  and  the  readiest 
self-sacrifice,  Dr.  Harrison  was  also  very  remarkable. 
To  give  his  life  for  that  of  his  son  was  but  to  act  out  the 
character  he  had  always  exhibited.  His  daughters — and 
that  is  one  test  of  a  man^s  character — regarded  him  not 
with  mere  ordinary  filial  admiration  and  affection,  but 
with  an  unutterable  reverence,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a 
passionate  fondness.  He  was  their  oracle,  and  yet  ap- 
proached with  perfect  freedom  and  familiarity.  His 
sympathies  were  as  prompt  and  tender  as  a  woman^s, 
and  it  was  natural  and  became  habitual  for  all  his  kin- 
dred and  friends  to  go  to  him  when  in  trouble,  seeking 
sympathy  and  counsel,  and  never  seeking  in  vain.  Nor 
did  he  wait  to  be  sought.  If  a  family  just  arrived  felt 
awkward  and  uncomfortable  in  their  new  circumstances, 
he  would  comprehend  their  situation  and  relieve  their 
constraint  by  delicate  attentions  and  pleasantries  of  con- 
versation. If  a  foreigner  without  introduction  was  slight- 
er! and  suspected,  and  yet  seemed  to  have  good  in  him. 
Dr.  Harrison  would  take  pains  to  give  him  countenance. 
When  wounded  United  States  soldiers  were  brought  to 
the  University  after  the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  and 
some  people  in  the  first  flush  of  indignation  were  inclined 
to  shrink  from  them,  Dr.  Harrison,  who  happened  to  be 
on  a  visit  here  at  the  time,  and  who  was  intensely  South- 
ern, went  promptly  and  repeatedly  to  their  dormitories, 
caring  for  their  wounds  and  reading  to  them  from  the 
Bible. 

He  had  a  deep  and  quiet  love  of  nature.  He  would 
say  that  it "  rested  him  "  to  look  upon  the  beautiful  land- 


MEMORIAL  OF   GESSNER   HARRISON.  345 

scape  around  us — a  landscape  which  they  who  have  trav- 
elled most  widely  will  most  warmly  admire,  which  is 
really  a  means  of  education  to  susceptible  students,  and 
which  the  alumni  ought  long  ago  to  have  invested  with 
the  charms  of  poetry  and  romance.  He  was  especially 
fond  of  flowers,  long  cultivating  the  flower-garden  with 
his  own  hands  ;  not  inclined  to  talk  largely  about  flow- 
ers, but  just  quietly  enjoying  them.  He  was  the  first 
person  who  purchased  rare  roses  at  a  distance  and  brought 
them  here.  And  with  equal  interest,  while  taking  his 
occasional  long  walks  in  the  mountains  around,  he  would 
dig  up  wild  flowers  and  bring  them  home  to  plant.  One 
of  these  wild  flowers  is  still  standing  in  the  garden  he 
loved  to  till.  Akin  to  this  was  his  fondness  for  pictures. 
Unable,  of  course,  to  gather  paintings,  he  greatly  de- 
lighted in  choice  engravings,  and  the  purchase  of  costly 
illustrated  books  was  perhaps  his  only  extravagance. 
His  older  children  remember  what  a  happiness  it  was  to 
stand  by  his  side  and  look  at  Kaulbach's  striking  pic- 
tures to  Goethe's  Reineke  Fuchs,  or  at  Retzsch's  Out- 
lines of  Shakespeare,  or  of  Schiller's  Bell,  while  he  told 
the  stories  with  enthusiasm  and  joyous  abandon.  Music, 
too,  he  dearly  loved.  Some  of  his  children  had  rare 
musical  talent,  and  he  spared  no  expense  upon  their 
training ;  and  in  those  musical  evenings  which  they  and 
their  neighbors  or  visitors  would  unite  to  brighten,  he 
would  listen  with  rapt  attention  and  delicious  enjoyment. 
As  a  matter  of  Christian  duty,  but  also  from  the  pleas- 
ure he  found  in  music  of  every  kind,  he  was  always 
ready,  however  busy,  to  attend  the  choir  meetings  in 
preparation  for  the  chapel  worship.     And  in  those  dear 


346  MEMORIAL  OF  GESSNER  HARRISON. 

Sunday  evenings  after  service,  which  can  never  be  for- 
gotten, if  he  could  sometimes  be  induced  to  read  a  favor- 
ite hymn,  there  was  a  rhythmical  charm  about  the  read- 
ing which  came  from  a  familiarity  with  the  Odes  of 
Sophocles,  and  a  devotional  sweetness  and  simplicity 
born  of  deep  Christian  experience. 

For  Gessner  Harrison  was  a  fervently  devout  Chris- 
tian. His  early  letters  to  his  friend  and  Christian 
brother  show  many  struggles;  but  he  had  taken  his 
position,  was  resolved  to  persevere,  and  gradually  made 
progress.  In  later  life,  with  no  loud  professions,  he 
was  always  outspoken  as  a  Christian,  ready  for  every 
good  word  and  work,  and  making  the  impression  upon 
all,  and  most  deeply  upon  those  who  knew  him  best, 
that  religion  was  the  strength  of  his  life. 

With  such  abilities  and  attainments,  and  such  a  char- 
acter, it  is  not  strange  that  Dr.  Harrison  so  powerfully 
impressed  himself  upon  his  pupils.  Not  only  the  hun- 
dreds of  those  who  are  now  professors  or  other  teachers, 
but  many  who  are  occupied  with  matters  widely  remote 
from  Latin  and  Greek,  are  still  constantly  recalling  his 
favorite  ideas  and  characteristic  expressions,  and,  what 
is  of  more  consequence,  their  minds  have  taken  shape 
and  their  characters  borrowed  tone  from  his  influence. 
In  every  grade  of  teaching  it  is  perhaps  even  more  im- 
portant to  consider  what  your  teacher  is  than  what  he 
knows. 

Two  years  more  and  it  will  be  fifty  years  since  the 
University  of  Virginia  was  opened.  In  this  checkered 
half-century  it  has  achieved  results  which,  considering 
all  the  difficulties  of  the  situation,  form  a  just  occasion 


MEMORIAL  OF   GESSNER  HARRISON.  347 

for  wonder  and  rejoicing.  A  truly  great  institution  of 
learning  cannot  be  created  in  a  short  time.  It  must 
grow :  must  gradually  form  its  atmosphere,  gather  its 
associations,  hand  down  its  honored  names  and  inspiring 
traditions.  The  life  we  have  been  considering  is,  per- 
haps, more  closely  connected  than  any  other  with  the 
history  of  this  University  and  the  constitution  of  its 
prestige.  But  Gessner  Harrison  is  only  one  of  many 
noble  men  who  have  spent  their  strength  in  advancing 
its  usefulness  and  building  up  its  reputation.  The  no- 
blest legacy  they  have  left  us  is  this — that  the  very 
genius  of  the  place  is  worh.  No  professor  nor  student 
of  susceptible  soul  can  establish  himself  here  without 
feeling  that  there  breathes  through  all  the  air  this  spirit 
of  work — a  noble  rage  for  knowing  and  for  teaching. 
This  is  the  glory  and  the  power  of  the  institution  which 
boasts  so  many  illustrious  names  among  its  Visitors,  its 
Faculty  and  its  Alumni.  And  let  it  be  the  last  word 
spoken  to-day  concerning  Gessner  Harrison,  spoken,  as 
it  were,  in  his  name  to  the  professors  and  the  students 
of  the  University  he  loved  so  well — Sirs,  brothers, 
FEAR  God  and  work. 


XVIII. 

SCIENCE  AND  CHRISTIANITY* 

AN  eminent  man  of  science  who  is  a  church-member 
and  a  decided  and  outspoken  Christian  presents  by 
no  means  the  unusual  spectacle  that  some  persons  sup- 
pose. A  certain  class  of  writers  and  speakers  seem 
really  to  have  persuaded  themselves  that  a  new  "  irre- 
pressible conflict''  has  arisen  between  science  and  Chris- 
tianity, and  that  he  who  is  a  friend  to  the  one  must  be 
an  enemy  to  the  other.  The  ground  of  this  persuasion 
is  not  far  to  seek.  Some  men  have  thought  they  saw 
in  the  real  or  supposed  results  of  scientific  research  a 
new  means  of  attacking  Christianity,  to  which  they 
were  commonly  opposed  on  other  accounts,  and  have 
very  naturally  been  anxious  to  associate  with  their  in- 
ferences and  speculations  the  dignity  and  prestige  which 
so  justly  belong  to  science.  And  then  certain  unwise 
defenders  of  Christianity  have  rushed  to  the  rescue,  and 
instead  of  attacking  the  unwarranted  applications  and 
assumptions   of  their   opponents,   have  committed  the 

*  Dr.  J.  Lawrence  Smith,  of  Louisville,  after  receiving  a  great  va- 
riety of  Fcientific  honors  in  Europe  and  at  home,  was  in  1879  made  a 
corresponding  member  of  the  French  Institute,  Academy  of  Science, 
the  highest  scientific  distinction  in  the  world,  and  one  which  few 
Americans  have  attained.  On  his  return  home,  many  eminent  citi- 
zens of  Louisville  made  a  banquet  in  his  honor ;  and,  in  response  to  a 
toast,  "  The  Church,"  the  following  address  was  delivered.  Dr.  Smith 
had  long  been  an  active  and  useful  member  of  the  Walnut  Street 
Baptist  Church,  and  so  continued  until  his  lamented  death  in  1883. 

348 


SCIENCE   AND   CHRISTIANITY.  349 

stupendous  blunder  of  attacking  science  itself.  Amid 
the  din  of  their  conflict  it  is  hardly  strange  if  some 
have  supposed  that  there  must  be  war  to  the  knife  be- 
tween all  Christians  and  all  men  of  science. 

But  meantime  most  of  us  are  entirely  peaceful.  Cer- 
tainly a  very  distinguished  representative  of  physical 
science  and  a  very  humble  representative  of  Christianity 
have  sat  side  by  side  this  evening  in  all  peace  and 
amity.  A  large  proportion  of  the  foremost  scientific 
men  of  the  age,  in  Europe  and  America,  are  known 
believers  in  Christianity,  and  not  a  few  are,  like  our 
honored  guest,  ready  on  all  suitable  occasions  to  advo- 
cate its  claims.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  the  great  mass 
of  really  intelligent  Christians  everywhere  are  warm 
friends  of  science,  whether  physical  or  metaphysical, 
linguistic  or  historical,  social,  political  or  religious  sci- 
ence. Why  should  it  not  be  so  ?  The  very  essence  of 
Christianity  is  light ;  its  very  life-blood  is  truth  ;  error 
and  ignorance  are  among  its  greatest  foes ;  and  all  true 
knowledge,  however  misconceived  and  misapplied  for  a 
time,  is  in  reality  its  friend  and  helper,  and  sooner  or 
later  will  be  so  acknowledged. 

Let  all  cultivated  men  try  to  repress  this  mistaken 
notion  of  antagonism.  Physical  science  has  its  own 
great  field,  its  grand  achievements  and  a  possible  future 
which  no  man  can  now  imagine  ;  but  there  are  facts  of 
existence  which  its  processes  cannot  explain  or  even 
detect.  Men  devoted  to  experiment  and  demonstration 
sometimes  grow  one-sided,  as  we  are  all  prone  to  do, 
and  deny  all  that  does  not  come  within  their  range. 
But  physical  science  necessarily  fails  to  account  for  our 


350  SCIENCE  AND  CHRISTIANITY. 

sense  of  right  and  wrong,  our  quenchless  longings  after 
immortality,  our  invincible  belief  in  the  Almighty, 
All-wise  and  All-loving.  Our  loftiest  thought  remains 
always  a  fragment  till  it  finds  completeness  in  the 
thought  of  Him;  and  our  hearts — strange  hearts,  so 
strong  and  yet  so  weak,  with  joys  so  sweet  and  griefs 
so  bitter — our  hearts  can  know  no  rest  save  as  they  rest 
in  Him. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  you  have  meant  to 
show  respect  for  the  Church,  the  aggregate  of  avowed 
Christians.  There  are  two  things  which  I  think  that 
Christians  ought,  in  our  day  and  country,  especially  to 
propose  to  themselves  and  to  urge  on  all  around  them. 
One  is  that  we  must  all  strive  to  combine  the  highest, 
broadest  Christian  charity  with  firm  attachment  to 
truth  and  fidelity  to  honest  convictions.  It  is  one  of 
the  practical  problems  of  our  age  to  combine  these,  not 
sacrificing  either  to  the  other.  And  the  second  thing  : 
At  a  time  when  political  and  social  evils  spread  so  wide 
and  strike  so  deep,  when  some  men  who  are  not  foolish 
despair  of  the  republic,  and  some  despair  of  society,  and 
some  ask  whether  life  is  worth  living,  it  becomes  us 
indeed  fearlessly  to  point  out  the  faults  of  our  current 
Christianity,  that  they  may  be  mended ;  but  it  becomes 
us  also  to  conserve  and  maintain  the  legitimate  influ- 
ence of  Christianity  over  all  classes  of  our  population. 
Let  all  men  beware  how  they  speak  the  word  that  is  to 
lessen  that  influence.  Things  are  bad  enough  with  us 
as  it  is ;  they  would  be  far  worse  if  that  influence  were 
destroyed.  But  let  us  hope  that  amid  the  mutations 
and  reactions  of  human  affairs,  and  under  the  control  of 


SCIENCE  AND  CHRISTIANITY.  351 

that  Divine  Providence  at  the  thought  of  which  we  all 
bow  in  reverence,  there  may  be  an  increase  of  living 
Christian  faith  and  genuine  Christian  morality,  of  real 
education  and  enlightened  patriotism,  that  will  bring 
better  and  brighter  days  for  us  and  for  our  children. 


XIX. 

FUNERAL  SERMON  FOR  GEORGE  Vv^.  RIGGAN,  D.D., 

Assistant  Professor  in  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  Louis- 
ville, Ky.  April  20,  1885. 

For  none  of  us  liveth  to  Minsdf,  and  none  dieth  to  himself.  For 
whether  we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord  ;  or  whether  we  die,  we  die  unto 
the  Lord :  whether  we  live,  therefore,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's. — Romans 
xiv.  7-8. 

SO  then,  both  in  living  and  in  dying,  we  are  the 
Lord's.  We  gladly  regard  ourselves  as  belonging 
to  the  Lord.  (1)  Because  he  made  us,  and  made  all 
that  environment  which  renders  life  pleasant  to  us.  (2) 
Because  he  redeemed  us,  and  ever  liveth  to  intercede  for 
us — "  that  they  which  live  should  no  longer  live  unto 
themselves,  but  unto  him  who  for  their  sakes  died  and 
rose  again.''  (3)  Because  he  will  judge  us — "  for  we 
must  all  be  made  manifest  before  the  judgment  seat 
of  Christ." 

And  we  joyfully  yield  ourselves  to  his  service.  (1) 
Because  he  has  use  for  us.  It  seems  a  wonderful  thing, 
men  and  brethren,  that  the  divine  almightiness  should 
have  use  for  our  poor  human  weakness,  that  the  divine 
holiness  should  condescend  to  use  us  who  are  sinful ; 
but  he  does  have  use  for  us,  we  can  be  of  service  to  the 
Lord.  (2)  Because  he  helps  us  to  be  useful.  Here  lies 
the  consolation — a  consolation  greatly  needed  by  the 
strongest  and  best  of  men,  a  consolation  all-sufficing 
when  we  most  deeply  feel  our  weakness.  (3)  Because 
352 


FUNERAL   SERMON    FOR   G.  W.  RIGGAN.  353 

he  can  determine  better  than  we,  in  what  ways  we  shall 
be  most  useful.  He  knows  whether  it  is  best  for  us  to 
labor  in  one  part  of  his  vineyard  or  another,  in  one  or 
another  sphere  and  method  of  Christian  exertion.  Two 
weeks  ago,  when  our  beloved  one  last  preached,  his 
morning  subject  was  the  parable  of  the  talents.  And 
the  Master  knows  whether  we  can  best  serve  him  with 
five  talents,  or  two,  or  one — yea,  whether  by  a  long  life, 
crowded  with  efforts  to  do  good,  or  by  what  will  seem 
to  men  a  too  early  death. 

There  are  two  ways  to  regard  the  question  of  living 
or  dying.  From  the  human  side,  from  the  standpoint 
of  personal  choice  and  responsibility,  we  naturally  and 
rightly  wish  and  strive  to  live.  The  Bible  does  not  at 
all  teach  the  contrary,  but  emphasizes  the  joy  of  living, 
when  we  live  unto  the  Lord  ;  helps  us  to  see  clearly  the 
real  duties  of  life  ;  and  offers  us  divine  assistance  in 
performing  them.  But  considered  from  the  providential 
side,  the  Bible  teaches  us  to  regard  life  and  death  alike 
with  submission  and  contentment.  When  it  becomes 
clearly  the  will  of  Providence  that  we  shall  not  have 
a  prolonged  life,  then  we  may  calmly  accept  an  early 
death,  because  in  either  case  we  are  the  Lord's,  he  is 
dealing  with  us  according  to  his  own  wisdom,  and  we 
leave  it  for  him  to  determine  how  we  shall  glorify  him 
best. 

When  a  Christian  who  has  become  conscious  of  un- 
usual native  powers,  who  has  seen  Providence  favor 
his  earnest  exertions  to  develop  those  powers,  has 
rejoiced  in  beginning  to  use  them,  with  vigor,  energy, 
enthusiasm^  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  and  for  the  glory 
23 


354  FUNERAL   SERMON    FOR   G.  W.  RIGGAN. 

of  Christ,  has  sometimes  felt  great  leaps  of  heart  at  the 
thought  of  becoming  widely  and  grandly  useful — when 
such  a  Christian  finds  himself  about  to  die  early,  he 
must  naturally  desire  that  his  death,  as  well  as  his  brief 
life,  should  prove  of  some  benefit  to  those  who  outlive 
him.  We  know  not  whether  amid  the  fancies  of  a  dis- 
ordered brain  our  brother  had  any  consciousness  that 
he  was  drawing  near  to  death ;  but  we  know  how  it 
would  have  been  with  him  if  thus  conscious;  and  we 
must  earnestly  strive,  in  reliance  upon  the  Divine  bless- 
ing, to  make  his  early  death,  and  the  story  of  his  life 
and  character,  an  occasion  of  profitable  reflection  and 
wholesome  impulse. 

The  life  of  Dr.  E-iggan  would  not  be  called  eventful, 
though  it  involved  great  changes.  He  was  born  thirty 
years  ago,  the  2  2d  of  February,  and,  probably  by  reason 
of  his  birthday,  was  called  George  Washington.  His 
early  life  was  spent  in  Isle  of  Wight  County,  Va.,  not 
far  from  Norfolk,  as  the  son  of  a  poor  widow.  The 
very  little  that  is  known  gi^es  glimpses  of  a  situation  not 
unlike  that  which  five  years  ago  became  matter  of  national 
interest.  The  family  had  not  always  been  so  poor.  When 
the  little  boy  was  eight  years  old,  the  servants  all  ran 
away  with  the  invading  army.  The  father  had  died 
several  j^ears  before,  and  the  family  were  now  appre- 
hensive for  the  future.  There  were  daughters,  and  one 
older  son,  who  died  when  nearly  grown.  Sometimes  as 
the  child  nestled  in  his  mother's  arms  at  night,  she 
would  say  that  if  she  lived  to  be  old,  there  would  be  no 
one  to  care  for  her  but  him  ;  and  then  he  would  make 
a  child's  passionate  promises.     He  had  already  been  at- 


FUNERAL   SERMON    FOR   G.  W.  RIGGAN.  355 

tending  a  neighborhood  school.  After  the  war,  when 
public  schools  were  established,  he  went  to  them.  God 
be  thanked  for  these  schools,  at  which  the  children  of 
struggling  poverty  can  find  opportunity  of  education. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  spent  a  year  in  a  lonely  coun- 
try store,  sleeping  there  without  protection;  and  at 
fourteen  he  became  a  boatman,  and  continued  to  work 
for  some  three  years,  first  on  the  oyster-ships  and  after- 
wards as  regular  seaman  on  a  trading-vessel.  He  once 
mentioned  to  a  friend  that  he  had  at  that  period  asso- 
ciated with  some  of  the  rudest  and  vilest  of  mankind. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  he  bore  the  moral  trial 
better  than  the  physical  trial.  It  was  a  life  of  great 
exposure,  and  during  winter,  in  bringing  u^)  and  hand- 
ling the  objects  of  their  industry  amid  wet  and  cold  and 
storm,  a  life  of  great  hardship  and  often  of  intense  suf- 
fering. It  seems  likely  that  during  this  period  his 
constitution  received  a  shock,  which  told  on  his  subse- 
quent history.  At  the  age  of  seventeen,  after  being 
drenched  by  stormy  waves  during  a  hot  fever,  the  lad 
abandoned  this  manner  of  life,  at  his  mother's  earnest 
entreaty,  and  years  afterwards  once  expressed  gratitude 
for  the  providential  affliction  which  had  led  to  this 
decision. 

We  presently  hear  of  him  as  spending  ten  months  in  the 
school  of  Rev.  J.  W.  Ward,  a  Baptist  minister  of  that 
vicinity,  winning  marked  distinction  as  a  student,  and 
afterwards  as  teaching  some  months.  He  had  become  a 
Christian  shortly  before  abandoning  his  boat-life,  and  the 
church  at  Smithfield  afterwards  testified  that  already  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  an  earnest  member  and  gave 


356  FUNERAL   SERMON   FOR   G.  W.  RIGGAN. 

promise  of  usefulness.  When  eighteen  years  old  he  went 
to  Richmond,  where  one  of  his  sisters  was  living,  and 
sought  employment.  After  being  specially  encouraged 
to  expect  appointment  as  upper  teacher  in  the  public 
schools,  he  suddenly  found  that  it  was  not  to  be  so.  He 
had  a  year  or  two  before  determined  to  become  a  minister, 
and  desired  to  teach  in  order  to  obtain  means  of  going  to 
college,  and  preparing  himself  for  that  work.  The  ses- 
sion at  Richmond  College  was  now  just  beginning,  but 
he  had  almost  no  means.  He  sought  advice  from  Dr. 
J.  R.  Garlick,  whose  ministry  he  had  been  attending  at 
Leigh  Street,  and  who  probably  saw  the  light  in  the 
youth's  beautiful  eyes,  for  he  encouraged  him  to  enter 
Richmond  College  and  trust  to  Providence.  The  Edu- 
cation Board,  which  has  nobly  aided  so  many  worthy 
young  men,  gave  him  its  assistance,  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  Mr.  Ward  and  the  Smithfield  Church.  The 
Leigh  Street  Church,  of  which  he  soon  after  be- 
came a  member,  helped  him  from  time  to  time.  Mr. 
Ward  and  others  of  his  early  friends  sent  some  contri- 
butions ;  and  his  mother,  from  her  straitened  means  and 
personal  exertions,  furnished  money  towards  paying  the 
entrance  fees  to  the  College.  A  Baptist  merchant  in 
Richmond  who  has  recently  died,  told  me  with  some 
pride  a  couple  of  years  ago  that  he  had  given  the  youth 
employment  in  the  late  afternoon  or  evening,  first  as  a 
messenger  and  afterwards  in  v/riting  up  his  books — and 
added  that  he  always  believed  George  would  come  to 
something.  After  the  first  session  he  found  some  em- 
ployment in  colportage,  and  afterwards  in  preaching  j 
and  during  his  last  sessions  was  supporting  himself  by 


FUNERAL  SERMON   FOR  -G.  W.  RIGGAN.  367 

regular  preaching  to  churches  in  the  vicinity  of  Rich- 
mond. 

At  Richmond  College  he  spent  five  years.  The  elect- 
ive method  of  education,  which  is  there  consistently  pur- 
sued, presents  great  advantages  to  a  student  whose  prep, 
aration  has  been  incomplete  and  irregular.  He  could 
work  up  the  elements  of  knowledge  in  various  depart- 
ments under  the  personal  instruction  of  the  able  profes- 
sors, and  amid  all  the  stimulus  of  college  associations. 
But  the  liberty  of  choice  proved  a  snare  to  him,  as  it 
sometimes  does  in  our  Seminary,  by  encouraging  him  to 
attempt  too  many  subjects  in  a  single  session.  Fond  of 
study,  ambitious,  and  quite  destitute  of  means,  he  took 
twice  as  many  classes  as  most  students,  and  yet  was  res- 
olutely bent  on  doing  all  the  work  well.  A  brief  diary 
shows  that  already  during  the  first  and  second  sessions 
he  was  repeatedly  ill,  and  conscious  of  overwork.  But 
it  is  very  easy  for  an  ambitious  youth  under  such  cir- 
cumstances to  persuade  himself  that  excessive  exertion  is 
justifiable.  He  early  became  conscious  of  possessing 
unusual  power.  There  was  always  observable  in  him  a 
curious  blending  of  timidity  and  self-reliance,  of  modesty 
and  pride.  Certainly  the  professors  soon  began  to  notice 
that  here  was  a  youth  of  great  promise.  To  observe  and 
assist  the  development  of  promising  youth  is  a  teacher's 
greatest  delight.  Mr.  Riggan  was  specially  distinguished 
in  Mathematics  and  Moral  Philosophy,  but  his  attain- 
ments in  the  Classics  were  also  remarkably  accurate  and 
solid.  At  the  end  of  five  years  he  was  declared  Master 
of  Arts,  which  in  Richmond  College  is  a  degree  rarely 
obtained,  and  a  sure  proof  of  broad  and  thorough  educa- 


358  FUNERAL   SERMON   FOR   G.  W.  RIGGAN. 

tion.  He  gained  also  about  all  the  medals  and  other  dis- 
tinctions that  the  college  offered. 

And  so  in  1878,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  came  to 
our  Theological  Seminary,  specially  commended  in  a 
private  letter  from  one  of  the  Professors  as  a  man  of 
whom  they  had  very  high  hopes.  His  Seminary  course 
showed  superior  powers,  laborious  thoroughness,  un- 
flinching application.  He  was  far  above  the  thought 
that  high  talent  and  general  excellence  will  make 
amends  for  occasional  negligence  and  inaccuracy  in  de- 
tails. I  remember  that  there  seemed  to  me  but  one 
mistake  in  his  three  years'  work.  He  spent  too  much 
time  in  preaching,  often  at  a  great  distance,  and  involv- 
ing absence  from  Saturday  morning  to  Monday  night. 
Meantime  his  work  as  a  student  must  be  thoroughly 
done,  and  he  preached  with  consuming  earnestness  ;  and 
so  his  health  suffered,  and  during  the  second  session  he 
was  sometimes  taken  ill,  and  began  to  look  worn.  I  re- 
monstrated with  him,  and  he  simply  replied  that  he  was 
sure  it  w^as  his  duty.  Years  afterwards  I  learned  inci- 
dentally that  these  desperate  exertions  were  made  from 
a  desire  to  aid  his  now  aged  mother.  He  was  young 
and  felt  strong,  he  remembered  the  passionate  promises 
of  his  childhood  to  care  for  her  in  old  age,  and  he 
would  arouse  himself  when  jaded  and  feeble  by  asking 
his  conscience  whether  those  promises  had  been  ful- 
filled. 

Before  Mr.  Riggan  became  a  '*  full  graduate  "  of  the 
Seminary,  in  1881,  it  w^as  decided  to  make  him  assistant 
instructor  in  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Homiletics.  After  two 
years  of  good  work  he  was  appointed  assistant  professor. 


FUNERAL  SERMON    FOR   G    W.  RIGGAN.  359 

During  nearly  five  years  he  has  served  as  pastor  of  the 
Forks  of  Elkhorn  Church,  in  Woodford  County,  sonae 
miles  beyond  Frankfort,  preaching  two  Sundays  in  the 
month,  and  spending  a  good  part  of  every  vacation  in 
that  pleasant  neighborhood. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  consider  our  brother's  character. 
He  had  an  acute  and  powerful  intellect.  A  highly  in- 
telligent gentleman  in  the  church  of  which  he  was 
pastor  has  said  that  he  thought  Dr.  Eiggan  possessed 
the  finest  intellect  he  had  ever  known.  It  was  a  mind 
that  always  strove  to  reach  the  bottom  of  things,  to  dis- 
cern principles  and  causes.  His  sermons  often  seemed 
too  metaphysical  for  popular  acceptance ;  and  they 
would  have  been  regarded  by  many  as  "dry,''  but  for 
other  qualities  to  be  presently  mentioned.  His  thinking 
was  studiously  clear,  and  he  patiently  sought  clear  and 
adequate  expression.  He  had  great  argumentative 
power,  and  loved  to  exercise  it  in  conversation  as  well 
as  in  public  discourse.  A  year  ago  he  published  two 
long  articles  in  the  Religious  Herald  upon  a  current 
question  of  Old  Testament  criticism,  in  which  w^as  shown 
quite  extraordinary  power  of  seizing  available  points 
for  defense  and  refutation,  and  of  driving  the  argument 
home  by  a  quick  succession  of  vigorous  blows.  These 
articles  were  widely  read  with  great  satisfaction,  and  de- 
clared by  some  persons  to  be  about  the  best  newspaper 
articles  they  had  ever  seen.  It  was  probably  these  that 
specially  stirred  the  Trustees  of  Richmond  College  to 
recall  his  early  promise  and  his  rapid  development  and 
unusual  distinction,  and  to  signalize  their  appreciation 
by  conferring  upon  him  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  the 


360  FUNERAL  SERMON   FOR  G.  W.  RIGGAN. 

honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  It  may  be 
added  that  while  fully  in  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of 
progress,  and  eagerly  examining  all  living  questions, 
Dr.  Riggan  was  unwaveringly  convinced  of  the  truth 
of  those  opinions  which  are  established  among  Baptists 
concerning  the  authority  of  Scripture  and  the  Theology 
which  Scripture  exhibits. 

He  was  a  man  of  intense  earnestness,  readily  blazing 
into  enthusiasm.  This  contagious  earnestness  made  people 
listen  to  his  most  metaphysical  discussions.  This  blaz- 
ing enthusiasm  kindled  a  glowing  sympathy  in  his  congre- 
gations and  his  classes.  I  have  often  passed  his  lec- 
ture-room near  the  close  of  the  hour  and  heard  him 
speaking  of  the  form  or  meaning  of  some  Hebrew  word 
with  a  vehemence  of  tone,  an  impassioned  effort  to  ex- 
plain and  convince,  which  to  many  thoughtless  persons 
would  have  seemed  almost  ludicrous,  but  which  to  his 
classes  invested  the  driest  details  with  lively  interest,  and 
stirred  susceptible  students  to  some  corresponding  zeal 
and  endeavor.  Whatever  is  worth  teaching  at  all  is  worth 
teaching  well ;  and  there  is  no  really  good  teaching  with- 
out an  enthusiastic  interest  in  the  subject,  and  a  passion- 
ate desire  to  give  the  pupil  all  possible  assistance. 

Both  in  literature  and  life  he  exhibited  a  just  taste. 
His  College  and  Seminary  course  had  rendered  his  lit- 
erary taste  decidedly  severe,  so  that  he  inclined  to  despise 
the  ornamental  in  style.  This  extreme  tendency  was 
yielding  to  further  literary  knowledge  and  experience. 
He  highly  appreciated  the  benefits  of  literary  culture. 
Last  fall  he  delivered  to  the  class  in  Homiletics,  during 
the  Professor's  absence,  a  couple  of  lectures  upon  Ten- 


FUNERAL   SERMON   FOR   G.  W.  RIGGAN.  361 

Dyson's  "  In  Memoriam,"  the  finest  religious  poem  of 
our  century.  He  had  been  reading  the  life  of  Frederick 
Denison  Maurice,  and  undertook  to  depict  those  relig- 
ious tendencies  and  longings  with  which  Tennyson  has 
dealt  in  the  poem,  as  well  as  to  awaken  admiration  for 
its  literary  art.  The  lectures  kindled  quite  an  enthu- 
siasm in  the  class,  and  upon  subsequently  reading  the 
rough  notes  one  was  not  surprised  at  the  efiPect.  His 
preliminary  criticism  of  the  student's  sermons,  afterwards 
reviewed  by  the  Professor,  were  from  the  beginning  vig- 
orous and  helpful,  and  showed  every  year  more  of  sym- 
pathetic insight,  and  of  sound  judgment  and  taste. 

He  was  deeply  conscientious.  The  fragments  of  diary 
kept  while  a  college  student  show  that  he  made  con- 
science of  all  his  daily  life.  His  self-reproach  at  what 
many  would  consider  trifling  failures  in  duty  reveals  that 
sensitiveness  of  conscience  which  sometimes  blends  in 
such  beautiful  harmony  with  lofty  ambition  and  ener- 
getic will. 

He  was  a  man  of  unselfish  and  generous  spirit,  of  a 
kindly  and  aifectionate  disposition.  Singularly  modest 
he  was,  while  so  strong  in  convictions  and  in  will ;  very 
discreet,  too,  in  all  deportment,  while  so  impulsive  and 
excitable;  always  ready  to  sacrifice  himself  to  others, 
though  full  of  ambition  to  make  the  most  of  his  own 
powers.  Hence  he  was  greatly  beloved  by  the  students, 
who  showed  a  beautiful  pride  in  their  young  professor, 
a  marked  interest  in  what  he  taught,  and  readiness  to  do 
the  work  he  requested.  His  colleagues  regarded  him 
with  warm  personal  friendship,  and  all  their  intercourse 
and  co-operation  has  been  in  the  highest  degree  harmo- 


362  FUNERAL  SERMON   FOR   G.  W.  RIGGAN. 

nious  and  delightful.  Id  the  interesting  country  church 
of  which  he  was  pastor  he  had  come  to  be  well  known 
by  summer  residence,  and  in  his  case  to  be  well  known 
was  to  be  warmly  loved.  An  eminent  physician  who  is 
a  member  of  the  church,  upon  hearing  of  the  young  pas- 
tor's illness,  left  home  and  practice  behind,  and  coming 
to  his  temporary  abode,  some  miles  from  Louisville,  spent 
night  and  day  in  unremitting  attention  to  the  end  ;  while 
other  gentlemen  of  the  church  left  large  agricultural  in- 
terests at  this  busy  season,  and  came  seventy  miles  to  see 
if  they  could  give  assistance.  Several  students  also  vied 
with  each  other  in  going  out  to  watch  at  his  bedside.  In 
this  Broadway  church  to  which  he  belonged  he  was  be- 
coming every  year  more  widely  known,  notwithstanding 
the  somewhat  timid  reserve  of  his  manner,  and  was  rec- 
ognized as  a  power  for  good,  and  a  brother  to  be  loved. 
Of  his  home  life  I  may  not  venture  to  speak.  But  it 
may  be  stated  that  his  wife's  venerable  mother,  prostrate 
with  sickness  and  grief,  rose  passionately  on  her  couch 
to  say,  "  Ah  !  you  gentlemen  did  not  know  him  as  I  did. 
You,  sir,  were  warmly  his  friend,  I  know  you  were,  but 
you  did  not  know  him  as  I  did.  Ah !  what  a  good  son 
he  was  to  me,  and  what  a  good  husband  to  my  daughter!" 

Let  us  reflect,  before  we  close,  upon  some  special  les- 
sons of  this  sad  hour. 

Here  is  encouragement  to  struggling  youth.  The  son 
of  a  poor  widow,  the  toiling  and  suffering  lad  on  the 
oyster-boats,  rose  in  a  few  years  after  opening  manhood 
to  be  the  companion  of  scholars,  the  admiration  of 
pupils  and  a  power  in  the  pulpit  and  the  press.  Far 
and  wide  over  the  land  to-day  are  children  of  poverty, 


FUNERAL   SERMON   FOR   G.  W.  RIGGAN.  363 

capable  of  developing  into  great  power  for  good,  if  only 
they  can  receive  the  necessary  stimulus,  encouragement 
and  aid.  Happy  those  who  generously  endow  institu- 
tions of  higher  learning,  where  struggling  youth  may 
find  the  best  teaching  without  cost.  Happy  those  who 
discern  early  signs  of  promise  in  one  and  another  of  the 
youth  whom  they  encounter,  and  are  quick  to  give  the 
cheering  word  and  the  helping  hand.  We  cannot  but 
regret  that  this  bright  and  inspiring  example  of  what 
ambitious  youth  may  hope  to  achieve  amid  difficulties, 
should  be  dimmed  by  so  early  a  death.  Yet  far  better 
even  thus  than  to  have  lived  inglorious,  undeveloped, 
inefficient,  through  many  years.  Better  to  blaze  and 
flame  and  set  things  on  fire  through  a  little  time,  than  to 
smoulder  long  without  power  to  warm  or  illumine,  and 
then  die  unnoticed  and  unknown. 

Here  is  a  lesson  as  to  prudent  care  of  bodily  health. 
A  man  of  ardent  nature,  impulsive,  enthusiastic  and 
resolute  enough  to  become  a  notable  force  in  the  world, 
will  always  find  it  hard  to  control  himself  and  keep 
within  the  conditions  of  physical  health.  A  man  who 
grew  up  in  the  country,  amid  active  employments  and 
bracing  air,  and  comes  to  live  in  a  city,  is  very  apt  to  err 
as  to  the  matter  of  bodily  exercise.  The  great  majority 
of  our  leading  business  men,  as  well  as  professional 
men,  in  all  the  cities  have  come  from  the  country,  and 
they  are  all  in  danger  of  making  this  mistake.  In  our 
country  life  bodily  exercise  came  as  the  unsought  result 
of  ordinary  labors  and  amusements  ;  and  in  city  life  we 
often  fail  to  perceive  that  it  must  be  made  a  matter  of 
wise  planning  and  systematic  attention.     It  is  clear  that 


364  FUNERAL  SERMON   FOR   G.  W.  RTGGAN.    • 

our  lamented  brother  could  not  fully  see  how  he  was 
overworking  himself.  For  years  he  had  borne  up,  amid 
incessant  strain,  without  adequate  bodily  exercise  or 
mental  rest,  until  it  had  become  difficult  for  him  to  en- 
joy either,  through  the  goading  of  a  passion  to  know 
and  to  do.  He  was  conscientious  about  this  as  he  was 
about  everything ;  he  meant  to  be  prudent,  and  tried  ; 
but  his  judgment  as  to  duty  and  possibility  failed  to 
direct  him  safely.  It  is  one  thing  to  censure,  it  is 
another  to  lament.  But  we  ought  to  notice  that  with 
men  of  ardent  temperament,  unselfish  devotion  and  deli- 
cate nervous  organization,  it  often  happens  that  the 
judgment  becomes  perverted,  and  there  arises  a  sort  of 
romantic  and  irresistible  persuasion  of  duty  to  put  forth 
great  exertion,  just  at  the  time  when  there  is  greatest 
need  of  rest.  Two  or  three  months  ago  our  dear  friend 
was  sorely  tried  in  the  sickness  and  death  of  an  infant 
child  and  the  subsequent  illness  of  his  wife.  He  was 
really  ill  himself  at  the  time,  but  bore  up  with  his  cus- 
tomary silent  and  determined  resolution,  while  the 
subtle  something  w^e  call  malaria  was  fastening  its  deadly 
grasp  upon  him  more  and  more  firmly.  He  removed 
some  miles  into  the  country,  in  hope  of  finding  relief, 
but  w^as  greatly  depressed  at  times  by  the  occasional  in- 
terruption of  his  regular  duties.  Two  weeks  ago,  when 
really  too  ill  for  such  an  undertaking,  he  thought  it  his 
duty  to  preach  at  the  Glen  view  Chapel,  having  been 
obliged  to  decline  several  previous  invitations.  The 
morning  sermon,  though  impressive  to  his  hearers, 
seemed  to  him  tame  and  feeble.  At  night  he  preached 
again  with  extraordinary  eifort  and  consuming  intensity, 


FUNERAL   SERMON    FOR  G.  W.  RIGGAN.  3G5 

and  in  garments  all  wet  from  the  fearful  exertion  rode 
home  through  the  night  air.  The  resulting  illness 
took  the  form  of  cerebro- spinal  meningitis.  Alas !  that 
none  of  us  understood  in  time  his  need  of  ceasing  from 
all  mental  exertion  and  going  away  for  absolute  repose. 
Alas  !  for  poor  human  wisdom,  which  often  sees  things 
so  plainly  when  it  is  all  too  late. 

Here  is  a  lesson  as  to  the  need  of  more   ministers. 
There  have  been  recently  several  conspicuous  deaths  in 
our  American   Baptist    ministry.     A  venerable  college 
president  in  Texas  has  passed  away.  A  noble  and  great- 
ly honored  pastor  and  teacher  in  Mississippi  has  fallen 
suddenly  at   his  post.      An  aged  and  celebrated  min- 
ister in  New  York  City,  of  ripe  wisdom  and  of  wider 
reading  than  probably  any  other  minister  of  any  denom- 
ination in  America,  has  fallen  asleep  amid  the  grand  col- 
lection of  books  which  had   formed  the  companions  of 
his  life.     And  now  this  fine  young  man,  of  such  rare 
early  achievement  and  such  rich  promise  for  the  future, 
is  likewise  gone.     What  does  it  mean  ?     It  means  no 
thought  of  despondency,  no  such  word  as  fail.     When 
soldiers  are  fighting  with  stern  devotion  the  battles  of 
their  country,  and  beloved  comrades  fall  by  their  side, 
they  only  press  forward  in  more  determined  endeavor, 
and  promptly  write  home  for  recruits  to  fill  the  ranks. 
What  does  this  mean  ?     It  means  renewed  prayer  to  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  will  send  forth  laborers,  and 
renewed  effort  in  all  who  have  undertaken  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  from  the  oldest  pastor  or  professor  to  the 
youngest  student,  to  fill  the  full  measure  of  possible  use- 
fulness. 


366  FUNERAL  SERMON   FOR  G.  W.  RIGGAN. 

Here  is  a  lesson  as  to  the  importance  of  preparing  be- 
forehand for  death  and  the  entrance  into  eternity.  That 
last  sermon  into  which  our  brother  poured  so  much  of 
his  life  was  upon  the  text,  "Let  me  die  the  death  of  the 
righteous."  How  often  this  is  with  other  men  as  well 
as  Balaam  a  mere  vain  wish !  In  fact,  ^vho  does  not 
wish  to  die  the  righteous  man's  death  ?  But  what  right 
has  any  one  to  expect  this  who  is  not  earnestly  living 
the  righteous  man's  life  ?  The  hope  of  death-bed  prep- 
aration for  death  is  among  the  greatest  of  human 
delusions.  In  not  a  few  cases,  there  is  no  consciousness 
of  the  approaching  end.  In  many  others,  there  is  a 
settled  despair,  which  nothing  can  change  into  trust  and 
hope,  or  a  fixed  indifference,  the  fruit  of  life-long  habit, 
which  nothing  can  arouse  into  endeavor  or  concern.  O 
til  at  that  last  text,  emphasized  by  the  preacher's  speedy 
departure,  may  sink  into  the  hearts  of  all  who  heard 
then,  and  of  all  who  hear  to-day. 

Finally,  may  God  grant  to  us  all  at  this  hour  the  con- 
solation and  guidance  we  need.  May  he  comfort  this 
sorrowing  church  of  which  our  brother  w^as  a  member, 
and  the  distant  church  of  which  he  was  pastor.  A  great 
sorrow  has  fallen  upon  all  that  Blue-grass  neighborhood  ; 
and  into  every  home  and  heart  among  them,  as  well  as 
into  the  hearts  of  those  who  have  come  so  far  to  be  pres- 
ent at  this  service,  may  there  enter  the  blessed  consola- 
tions which  God  only  can  give.  May  the  Holy  Spirit  com- 
fort the  students  who  mourn  wdth  deep  and  bitter  grief 
the  loss  of  their  noble  young  professor,  and  lead  them 
in  high  consecration  and  devotion  to  imitate  him  as  he 
imitated  Christ.     There  is  even  greater  need  of  special 


FUNERAL   SERMON    FOR   G.  W.  RIGGAN.  367 

comfort  to  his  colleagues.  Eight  years  ago  we  buried 
with  the  deepest  sense  of  loss  our  oldest  professor,  who 
had  been  with  us  from  the  beginning.  What  a  shock 
that  the  next  to  pass  away  should  be  our  youngest !  We 
cannot  but  feel  like  parents  grown  gray  when  called  to 
bury  a  son  in  all  his  youthful  prime.  It  is  a  mournful 
experience.  God  help  us.  And  can  I  more  say?  Three 
years  ago  the  orange  blossom,  and  now  these  flowers 
that  vainly  essay  to  smile  upon  a  scene  too  full  of  sad- 
ness. O  pitying  heavens,  drop  down  the  dews  of  your 
consolation.  O  pitying  angels,  doubtless  ye  care,  but  ye 
know  not,  O  angels,  the  sweet,  sweet  human  love,  the  bit- 
ter, bitter  human  sorrow.  O  sympathizing  Saviour,  thou 
didst  weep  with  sisters  beside  a  brother's  grave,  and  thou 
knowest,  thou  knowest,  O  Saviour,  that  here  is  a  grief 
still  harder  to  bear.  O  Holy  Ghost  the  Comforter, 
come  now  and  comfort.  O  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of  mercies  and  God  of  all  com- 
fort, the  father  of  the  fatherless  and  the  widow's  God, 
come  guide  and  uphold  one  who  strives  to  be  brave  and 
calm  as  she  leads  forth  into  life  the  tottering  steps  of 
her  fatherless  little  boy. 


XX. 

THE  CONFEDERATE  DEAD. 

Address  at  Cave  Hill  Cemetery,  Louisville,  May  22,  1886. 

IT  is  a  long  time  since  the  war — part  of  a  thousand 
years.  And  many  changes  have  come.  We  hear 
much  as  to  the  wonders  of  our  age,  but  to  me  the  greatest 
of  them  all  is  the  rapid  restoration  of  good  feeling  in 
this  country.  You  young  people  cannot  imagine  how 
we  felt  twenty-five  years  ago.  And  I  am  heartily  glad 
you  cannot.  But  to-day  w^e  meet  beside  the  graves  of 
our  heroic  dead  without  one  thought  or  feeling  of  bitter- 
ness toward  those  who  sleep  yonder.  As  Pitt  and  Fox^ 
after  their  life-time  of  conflict,  sleep  in  peace  together 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  so  here  the  Confederate  dead  on 
the  slope  and  the  Union  dead  on  the  summit  of  the  same 
hill,  the  men  who  twenty  years  ago  were  engaged  in  the 
vastest  and  most  terrible  civil  conflict  that  ever  occurred 
on  earth.  Thank  God  that  now  all  is  peace !  It  is  due 
partly  to  the  mobile  character  of  our  people ;  partly  to 
the  ample  resources  of  our  great  country,  giving  to  all 
employment  and  hope,  and  partly,  notwithstanding  all 
our  imperfection  and  short-coming,  to  the  influence  of 
Christianity.  The  great  religion  of  peace  has  healed 
the  wounds  and  softened  the  asperities  of  the  great  civil 
war. 

It  is  useless  now  to  raise  the  question  who  was  right. 
368 


THE   CONFEDERATE   DEAD.  369 

Perhaps  in  some  respects  each  side  would  now  acknowl- 
edge tliat  the  other  was  nearest  right ;  perhaps  in  some 
respects  both  sides  were  wrong.  Whenever  the  ^im- 
partial historian"  arises — he  has  not  arisen  yet;  cer- 
tainly he  has  not  published  anything  in  the  Century 
Magazine  or  in  the  Personal  Recollections  of  any  states- 
man or  soldier — and  if  he  should  speak  out  now,  he 
would  probably  offend  both  sides,  or  else  would  be  ne- 
glected as  tame  and  dull — but  when  he  arises  he  may 
possibly  hold  that  one  side  was  nearest  right  according 
to  document  and  argument,  and  the  other  according  to 
the  slowly  changing  condition"  of  our  national  affairs. 
Of  one  thing  I  feel  certain,  neither  side  can  claim  any 
monopoly  of  good  intentions,  of  patriotic  aims,  nor  even 
of  wisdom. 

The  side  that  triumphs  is  not  always  thereby  proven 
to  have  been  superior  in  wisdom.  We  were  concerned 
in  one  of  those  mighty  movements  in  human  affairs 
which  transcend  all  the  penetration  and  judgment  of  the 
greatest  individual  minds.  We  ordinary  people  can  to- 
day see  meanings  in  that  struggle  which  the  greatest 
statesmen  did  not  perceive  when  it  began.  And,  of 
course,  the  end  is  not  yet ;  it  will  be  better  understood 
hereafter.  But  this  much  is  plain  —  iho,  war  had  to 
come.  The  necessity  for  it  was  written  in  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  republic  and  of  the  colonies — yea,  in  the 
history  of  England  for  centuries  past.  It  was  written 
in  the  configuration  and  climate,  the  soil  and  produc- 
tions of  different  parts  of  our  continent.  It  was  written 
on  the  flag  of  the  first  ship  that  brought  African  slaves 
to  the  English  Colonies  of  North  America.  It  had  to 
24 


370  THE   CONFEDERATE   DEAD. 

come.  The  splendid  eloquence  and  noble  patriotism  of 
the  world-famous  statesman  of  Kentucky,  aided  by 
others  of  like  mind,  delayed  it  for  a  time.  The  madness 
of  some  men  doubtless  hastened  it;  but  with  human 
nature  as  it  is,  the  war  had  to  come  sooner  or  later. 
And  we  can  see  now  that  there  were  two  great  questions 
which  imperatively  required  to  be  settled. 

A  certain  point  as  to  the  character  of  the  Federal 
Government  our  fathers  failed  to  define,  apparently 
because  they  could  not  agree.  That  point  the  war  has 
practically  settled  forever.  A  certain  great  social  insti- 
tution, grown  into  portentous  and  tremendous  propor- 
tions, had  fallen  under  the  ban  of  the  civilized  world, 
and,  sooner  or  later,  somehow  or  other,  it  must  cease  to 
be.  T  verily  believe  that  it  is  worth  all  our  dreadful 
financial  losses,  all  the  sufferings  of  the  long  and  fright- 
ful conflict,  yea,  and  the  blood  of  our  precious  dead,  to 
have  those  two  questions  flung  behind  us  forever. 

Well,  then,  did  our  buried  heroes  die  in  vain?  Their 
side  of  the  conflict  was  the  side  appointed  to  fail,  but 
it  does  not  follow  that  they  died  in  vain. 

The  great  struggle  has  preserved  the  self-respect  of  the 
Southern  people.  At  a  time  when  we  believed  that  our 
rights  were  sorely  endangered  we  could  not  have  tamely 
yielded  merely  to  avoid  suffering  and  loss,  and  contin- 
ued to  respect  ourselves.  'Tis  better  to  have  loved  and 
lost,  than  never  to  have  loved  at  all.  And  it  is  better 
to  have  been  brave  and  beaten  than  never  to  have  been 
brave  at  all,  at  a  time  when  every  instinct  and  sentiment 
and  principle  of  manhood  clamored  its  demand  that  men 
should  stand  for  what  they  honestly  believed  to  be  truth 


THE   CONFEDERATE   DEAD.  371 

and  right.  The  graves  of  our  fallen  soldiers  make  it 
possible  that  this  generation  and  the  coming  generations 
of  the  Southern  people  should  feel  no  shame  in  conse- 
quence of  their  defeat. 

The  war  has  established  mutual  respect,  and  opened 
the  way  for  mutual  good-will  between  the  long  hostile 
sections  of  our  great  country.  The  Northern  and  South- 
ern people  underestimated  each  other's  manhood  ;  de- 
spised each  other.  But  they  feel  so  no  longer,  especially 
those  of  them  who  actually  met  in  the  imminent  and 
deadly  breach.  There  is  kinder  feeling  on  both  sides 
now  than  would  have  been  possible  had  our  difficulties 
been  settled  in  any  other  way. 

And  this  has  enabled  the  defeated  combatants  to 
yield  a  cordial  and  faithful  devotion  to  the  National 
Government,  such  as  could  not  have  existed  if  things 
had  taken  any  other  course.  I  make  bold  to  say,  how- 
ever an  occasional  unwise  utterance  may  misrepresent 
us,  that  many  of  the  most  sincere  and  earnestly  faithful 
supporters  of  this  great  Union  to-day  are  among  the 
men  who  once  did  their  level  best  to  break  the  Union 
in  twain. 

No,  the  dead  have  not  lived  or  died  in  vain,  if  the 
survivors  know  aught  of  right  thought  and  right  feel- 
ing. They  are  a  power  among  us  to-day.  "A  living 
dog,"  the  wise  man  hath  said,  "is  better  than  a  dead 
lion.''  Yes,  but  even  a  living  lion  is  nothing  in  com- 
parison with  a  dead  man.  In  proportion  as  he  lived 
and  died  with  a  true  manhood,  his  memory  is  cher- 
ished and  proves  a  blessing  to  those  who  survived  and 
those  who  come  after.     There  are  fathers  buried  here 


372  THE   CONFEDERATE   DEAD. 

whose  children  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  them ; 
yet  the  glorified  memory  of  the  father,  as  often  depicted 
by  the  widowed  mother,  has  become  to  those  children 
the  very  glass  in  which  to  dress  themselves,  the  model 
of  all  that  is  noblest  in  human  character  and  life. 

I  was  thinking  not  long  ago  concerning  that  greatest 
of  all  the  poems  ever  written  in  memory  of  the  dead,  in 
which  Tennyson  has  so  well  depicted  the  mental  strug- 
gles and  responded  to  the  religious  longings  of  our 
troubled  age.  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  two  won- 
derfully-gifted young  men  went  to  the  production  of 
that  great  poem, — one  who  died  to  be  its  subject,  the 
other  who  lived  to  compose  it?  He  who  died  must 
have  been  a  man  of  extraordinary  powers  and  promise, 
in  order  to  make  so  profound  an  impression,  and  turn 
all  the  poet's  deepest  thought  and  feeling  for  so  long  a 
time  into  pathetic  memories  of  him.  And  if  our  noble 
young  men  have  died  in  vain,  it  must  be  our  fault. 

Let  us  teach  ourselves  and  our  children  to  draw  in- 
spiration from  these  graves.  As  on  this  bright  evening 
the  little  ones  scatter  flowers  on  the  mounds,  let  us  all 
resolve  afresh  to  live  worthy  of  the  men  who  are  buried 
here. 

"  Thus,  though  oft  depressed  and  lonely, 

All  my  fears  are  laid  aside, 
If  I  but  remember  only 

Such  as  these  have  lived  and  died." 


XXI. 

MEMORIAL  OF  A.  M.  POINDEXTER  * 

A  NEW  generation  is  arising  that  knew  not  Joseph. 
-^  A  large  })roportion  of  the  persons  present  can 
hardly  sympathize  with  the  profound  interest  which 
those  who  are  older  feel  in  the  life  and  character  of  this 
long-departed  minister.  But  transport  yourself  in  fancy 
to  a  meeting  of  the  General  Association  twenty  years 
ago.  A  debate  is  in  progress,  involving  some  vital 
doctrine  of  Scripture,  or  some  question  of  church  gov- 
ernment, or  some  point  connected  with  ministerial  or 
general  education  or  with  the  work  of  missions.  Some 
brother  is  presenting  arguments  or  plans  which  others 
might  regard  as  of  questionable  propriety.  Instantly 
you  see  a  man  arise  from  one  of  the  front  seats,  and  go 
quickly  towards  the  speaker.  He  is  a  man  of  some- 
what less  than  medium  height,  but  of  graceful  figure. 
His  face  has  a  rather  haggard  look ;  but  his  blue  eye  is 
as  bright  and  tender  as  a  morning  sky  in  spring-time. 
He  seats  himself  just  in  front  of  the  speaker,  puts  in 
position  an  enormous  ear-trumpet,  lifting  it  towards  the 
speaker's  face,  and  gazes  up  at  him  with  a  kindly,  eager 
and  curiously  humble  expression  of  countenance.  As 
soon  as  the  speech  ends,  he  quickly  lays  down  the  ear- 
trumpet,  and  rises  with  elastic  energy  to  his  feet.     He 

*  Before  the  Virginia  Baptist  Historical  Society,  Staunton,  Va., 
Nov.  13,  1886.  Some  portions  were  omitted  in- reading,  for  lack  of 
time. 

373 


S74  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POI^DEXTER. 

begins  to  speak  without  the  slightest  touch  of  arrogance, 
and  yet  with  the  unmistakable  air  of  a  man  who  thor- 
oughly understands  the  subject.  He  calls  up,  accu- 
rately and  without  apparent  eifort,  any  and  every  point 
made,  in  the  course  of  the  debate,  that  he  has  occasion 
to  use.  He  has  evidently  thought  through  and  through 
all  the  principles  involved,  and  his  arguments  come 
trooping  as  they  are  wanted.  Everything  erroneous  or 
questionable  finds  itself  overwhelmingly  refuted,  and 
the  truth  on  the  subject,  as  prevailing  among  intelligent 
Baptists,  is  set  forth  in  complete  and  luminous  state- 
ment. Presently  his  mind  warms  to  the  subject;  his 
emotions  are  kindled  by  the  thought  of  some  great  Gos- 
pel truth  or  duty;  his  movements  become  impassioned  ; 
his  face  begins  to  glow,  and  the  blue  eyes  flash  light- 
ning ;  his  voice,  though  harsh  and  not  well  governed, 
swells  into  mighty  power;  he  takes  possession  of  the 
entire  assembly,  leading  them  where  he  will,  filling 
their  whole  soul  with  some  strong  conviction  or  some 
enthusiastic  purpose.  As  he  sits  down,  exhausted  and 
panting,  and  the  high-wrought  countenance  subsides 
into  gentleness  and  humility,  you  hardly  think  of  ad- 
miring the  man ;  your  mind  is  all  engrossed  with  the 
persuasion  that  his  views  are  right,  that  no  one  need 
attempt  to  answer  him,  that  we  ought  to  do,  must  do, 
will  do  just  what  he  has  said.  In  turning  away  at  the 
close  of  the  session,  you  hear  one  member  say  to  an- 
other :  ''  Poindexter  was  almost  up  to  his  best  to-day  ;'^ 
and  the  reply  is  made :  "  Oh,  well,  we  have  nobody 
else  that  can  speak  like  that ;  but  I  have  heard  him  do 
better  far." 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  oii> 

Vain  are  all  attempts  to  describe  consummate  elo- 
quence. Pray  join  us,  without  further  ado,  in  survey- 
ing the  history  and  character  of  one  whom  many  of  us 
regard  with  unutterable  admiration  and  love.* 

Abrara  Maer  Poindexter  was  of  a  Huguenot  family, 
which  came  from  England  early  in  the  last  century,  and 
settled  in  Louisa  County,  Virginia.  The  name  shows 
it  to  have  been  a  French  family  of  the  better  class,  for 
point  dextre,  the  "right-hand  poiut,^'  indicated  one  of 
the  chief  positions  on  an  escutcheon,  as  may  be  seen  in 
Webster's  Dictionary  ;t  and,  however  this  name  may 
have  been  gained,  it  suggests  military  distinction. 
Young  Thomas  Poindexter  was  sent  away  from  Eng- 
land by  his  parents  to  prevent  a  marriage  with  an 
English  girl ;  but,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  the 
girl  crossed  the  Atlantic  also,  and  they  met  in  a  curious 
and  romantic  fashion,  which  you  may  find  described  in 
Taylor's  "  Lives  of  Virginia  Baptist  Ministers,"  in  the 
sketch  of  John  Poindexter.     A  son  of  this  marriage, 

*  The  materials  are  rich  at  some  points ;  at  others,  quite  scanty. 
Dr.  J.  B.  Taylor  has  kindly  furnished  Dr.  Poindexter's  writings— 
those  printed  and  such  as  remain  in  maDUseript— and  has  spared  no 
pains  to  give  aid  in  various  ways.  Extracts  from  letters,  oral  commu- 
nications and  newspaper  articles  of  numerous  friends  will  be  credited 
where  they  are  inserted.  Towards  the  close,  the  widow  of  Dr.  A.  B. 
Brown  kindly  made  search  among  her  husband's  manuscripts,  and 
sent  the  following :  (a)  A  long  letter  to  Dr.  Brown  from  Rev.  William 
Hill  Jordan,  half-brother  of  Dr.  Poindexter,  written  the  year  follow- 
ing Poindexter's  death,  and  giving  facts  as  to  their  ancestors  and 
Abram's  boyhood ;  (6)  The  rough  draft  of  two  mainly  identical  ad- 
dresses on  the  character  of  Poindexter,  made  by  Dr.  Brown  shortly 
after  his  friend's  death,  and  which  will  be  freely  quoted  below;  (c) 
The  beginning  of  a  memoir  by  Dr.  Brown,  which  furnishes,  from  his 
own  knowledge,  two  or  three  facts  not  otherwise  within  reach. 

t  The  explanation  was  suggested  by  Dr.  Brown. 


376  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

also  named  Thomas,  married  a  daughter  of  Colonel 
Gabriel  Jones,  of  Culpeper,  and  two  of  their  sons  be- 
came ministers,  John  Poindexter  and  Richard  Jones 
Poindexter,  the  father  of  him  whom  we  commemorate. 
These  two  brothers  married  sisters  in  Bertie  County, 
North  Carolina,  whose  mother  was  quite  a  remarkable 
woman.  Her  maiden  name  was  Prudence  Jordan,  and 
she  married  a  German,  named  Abram  Maer,  of  whom 
we  have  no  information,  but  who  seems  to  have  been  a 
man  of  interesting  character ;  for  his  not  very  eupho- 
nious name  was  borne  by  several  of  his  descendants. 
The  wife  was  one  of  the  early  converts  of  Elder  Jere- 
miah Dargan  (a  kinsman  of  our  Petersburg  pastor), 
who  came  from  South  Carolina  to  this  north-eastern 
portion  of  North  Carolina,  where  his  life-long  ministry 
was  richly  blessed.  She  was  famous  for  intelligence 
and  piety,  a  valued  counsellor  of  her  pastor,  and  most 
deeply  concerned  for  the  salvation  of  her  numerous 
children.  Her  grandson,  William  Hill  Jordan,  has 
preserved  interesting  narratives  of  the  conversion  of 
her  sons.  Three  of  her  daughters  were  married  to 
Baptist  ministers, — one  to  Aaron  Spivey,  another  to 
John  Poindexter,  and  the  third,  Fanny,  after  a  first 
marriage  to  Mr.  Jordan,  formed  a  second  marriage  with 
Pichard  Jones  Poindexter.  We  thus  see  that  A.  M. 
Poindexter  was  of  mingled  French,  English  and  Ger- 
man extraction,  and  that  his  ancestors  included  persons 
of  marked  intelligence  and  character. 

Besides  the  son  of  her  first  marriage,  William  Hill 
Jordan,  who  lived  a  long  life  of  the  highest  ministerial 
usefulness  and  distinction,  Mrs.  Poindexter  became  the 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  377 

mother  of  eight  children,  of  whom  only  two  lived  to  be 
grown,  and  the  elder  of  these  died  when  just  entering 
manhood.  She  was  always  feeble  and  suffering,  though 
slie  long  outlived  her  second  husband.  Dr.  Brown  says 
that  the  country  on  the  lower  Roanoke  was  then  badly 
drained,  and  the  inhabitants  greatly  subject  to  chills  and 
fever.  These  circumstances  explain  for  us  the  import- 
ant fact  that  A.  M.  Poindexter  inherited  a  very  deli- 
cately organized  constitution,  easily  exposed  to  several 
grave  diseases,  and  requiring  a  very  active  life  to  ward 
off  their  assaults.  He  also  inherited  from  his  mother 
certain  excellent  traits  of  character.  Mr.  Jordan  says  : 
"  She  was  of  a  guileless  simplicity  and  integrity  of  charac- 
ter, faithful  in  her  friendships  and  undisguised  in  her  dis- 
likes. She  possessed  a  fortitude  almost  invincible,  and  a 
courage  I  never  knew  exceeded  in  woman  or  man.  Her 
piety  was  a  steady,  rather  than  a  brilliant  flame.  She  was 
not  addicted  to  much  talk  about  either  her  religious  joys 
or  sorrows.  Her  faith  was  unwavering.  Amid  sickness 
and  sorrow,  her  children  dying  in  her  arms,  and  dark  and 
heavy  billows  of  tribulation  breaking  over  her  head,  I 
do  not  suppose  that  she  ever,  the  first  time,  questioned 
the  goodness  of  the  Lord,  or  doubted  for  a  moment  her 
acceptance  with  the  Redeemer.  She  uniformly  said, 
when  led  to  speak  of  the  subject,  that  she  felt  ready  to 
meet  the  Lord.  ...  In  beautiful  consistency  with 
her  life,  these  were  about  her  last  words, — ^  I  have  no 
ecstasy,  but  a  firm  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.^" 

Abram  was  born  September  22,  1809.  His  half- 
brother  remembered  him  as  a  lively  and  sprightly  child, 
early  displaying  a  great  love  of  argument.     On  one  oc- 


378  MEMORIAL   OF   A.   M.   POINDEXTER. 

casion,  when  he  was  not  more  than  ten  or  twelve  years 
old,  his  father,  in  the  conclusion  of  a  discussion  between 
them,  said  to  him,  laughing,  "  Well,  my  son,  you  have 
cornered  me."  The  father  was,  Mr.  Jordan  says,  "  a 
man  of  extraordinary  talents ; "  and  "  from  the  part 
taken  by  him  in  the  associations  of  his  day,  he  must  have 
been  a  very  active  man,  if  not  a  leader.'^  *  He  was  par- 
ticularly fond  of  metaphysics,  and  had  good  store  of 
books  on  that  subject,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Jordan,  probably  served  to  whet  to  an  edge  the  boy's 
naturally  intellectual  and  logical  mind.  ^'Ministers 
and  others  who  visited  our  family,  and  engaged  in  the 
conversation,  expressed  their  admiration  at  the  abilities 
he  displayed  in  argument,  when  but  a  boy."  The 
father  was  also  very  well  read  in  medicine,  and  Abrami 
stated,  in  later  life,  to  Dr.  Brown,  that  he  early  read 
very  freely  in  his  father's  medical  books,  as  well  as  in 
metaphysics.  This  was  a  felicitous  part  of  his  environ- 
ment, that  his  mind  was  developed  and  trained  by  phys- 
ical as  well  as  metaphysical  science,  both  through  the 
books  and  through  conversation  with  his  father.  He 
also  stated  late  in  life,  to  Dr.  Manly,  that  in  boyhood  he 
read  the  Bible  much  and  very  attentively,  though  not 
yet  a  Christian,  and  acted  as  superintendent  of  a  Sun- 
day-school in  the  neighborhood,  because  no  one  else 
would  take  hold.  Mr.  Jordan  says  that  he  "enjoyed 
such  opportunities  for  early  culture  as  existed  in  the 
schools  of  the  country,  in  which  were  taught  the  com- 
mon branches  of  an  English  education.  Subsequently 
he  was  sent  to  a  school  of  higher  grade,  in  which  he  ac- 
*  President  C.  E.  Taylor. 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  379 

quired  some  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language."  The 
deafness,  which  greatly  hindered  liim  through  life,  is 
understood  to  have  been  produced  in  some  feat  of  boyish 
diving,  through  the  sudden  rush  of  water  into  his  ears. 
It  grew  worse  in  middle  age,  probably  through  compli- 
cation with  disease  of  the  throat. 

Some  time  during  his  boyhood  there  were  certain 
strange  occurrences  at  the  home  of  the  family,  which 
three  years  before  his  death  Dr.  Poindexter  narrated  to 
Dr.  George  B.  Taylor,  whose  recollection  of  the  narra- 
tive is  as  follows:  "For  a  long  time  inexplicable  and 
awe-inspiring  things  were  constantly  taking  place  at  his 
father's  home,  of  which  all  the  family,  including  himself, 
were  cognizant.  There  would  be  the  unmistakable 
sound  of  some  one  moving  in  the  room,  when  nothing 
was  visible  ;  objects  would  be  visibly  moved  from  their 
places  without  an  apparent  mover.  Doors  would  bo 
opened  and  shut,  as  by  the  hand  of  some  one  who  was 
yet  unseen.  A  door  would  be  opened,  though  locked 
and  the  key  not  in  the  lock,  and  the  lock  rusty.  The 
bolt  would  be  seen  and  heard  to  go  back  with  a  grating 
sound,  and  the  door  would  open,  all  without  any  visible 
agent."  There  were  many  other  details  which  Dr. 
Taylor  does  not  recall.  He  adds, — "Dr.  Poindexter 
had  no  theory  as  to  the  cause  and  nature  of  these  mani- 
festations, showing  thus  the  philosophical  and  conserva- 
tive character  of  his  mind.  He  mentioned,  merely  as  a 
part  of  the  res  gestce,  that  it  was  found  out  that  the  for- 
mer owner  of  the  farm  had  in  some  way  suffered,  if 
nothing  more,  a  deep  wrong  and  injustice.  .  .  ."  One 
naturally  pats  along  with  this  story  the  strange  experi- 


380  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.   POINDEXTER. 

ences  suffered  by  John  Leland,  when  living  in  Orange 
County,  Ya.,*  and  the  'Wesley  Ghost/'' 

During  Abram's  boyhood  the  family  was  in  comfort- 
able circumstances.  The  stepson  inherited  a  considera- 
ble fortune,  went  much  to  boarding-school,  and  obtained 
quite  a  good  youthful  education.  But  this  was  mainly 
denied  to  Abram.  There  came  "a  great  pecuniary 
crash  in  the  community,''  and  we  of  the  present  day 
know  too  well  how  such  a  state  of  things  might  exist  a 
few  years  after  the  war  with  Great  Britain.  At  such 
times  men  of  delicate  health  and  sensitive  nature  are 
frequently  unable  to  bear  up  under  the  burden  of  finan- 
cial disaster  and  solicitude.  The  father  died  in  1826, 
when  Abram  was  17  years  old.  His  sons  sought  em- 
ployment. The  elder  began  the  study  of  medicine,  but 
died  shortly  after.  Abram  vainly  tried  to  get  into  a 
printing-office,  and  was  presently  invited  by  a  kinsman 
to  study  law  with  him,  but  on  arriving  found  that  the 
lawyer  kinsman  had  changed  his  mind.  He  would 
hardly  have  succeeded  well  in  connection  with  the  press, 
for  he  was  through  life  curiously  deficient  in  spelling, 
and  never  facile  in  written  composition ;  but  as  a  law- 
yer he  could  not  have  failed  to  become  eminent.  These 
disappointments  made  him  very  despondent,  and,  deter- 
mined to  do  something,  he  indentured  himself  to  a  me- 
chanic, to  learn  a  trade.  Here  he  was  sorely  tempted 
by  wicked  associates,  but,  as  he  said  later  in  life,  was 
restrained  by  respect  for  his  mother,  and  "  unwilling- 
ness by  any  evil  course  to  add  to  her  afflictions."  These 
manual   labors   seem  to  have   continued  several  years. 

♦Sprague's  Annals,— Baptist,  p.  180. 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.   M.    POINDEXTER.  381 

Then  he  was  converted,  and  at  once  the  Christian  hope 
lifted  him  out  of  despondency  and  gave  his  soul  a  new 
elasticity.  "  As  soon  as  he  professed  religion  he  mani- 
fested a  desire  for  the  ministry,  and  he  soon  began  to 
speak  to  others  of  the  Gospel,  the  power  of  which  he 
had  experienced  in  his  own  heart.  He  was  a  preacher 
born.  These  incipient  efforts  in  preaching  showed  the 
same  clear,  strong,  logical  thought  which  has  since  so 
fully  developed  itself  as  one  of  his  most  prominent  in- 
tellectual characteristics.     He  was  born  a  man."* 

Poindexter  mentions  afterwards  in  his  diary  that  in 
May,  1831,  he  began  earnestly  to  seek  the  Lord,  and  on 
the  4th  Lord's  day,  in  June,  was  enabled,  as  he  trusts, 
*^  to  embrace  him  as  mine.''  He  was  baptized  by  elder 
R.  Lawrence  into  the  fellowship  of  Cashie  Church, 
Bertie  County,  in  July,  1831,  and  licensed  to  preach  in 
February,  1832.  He  now  greatly  desired  to  improve 
his  education,  and  was  encouraged  in  this  by  his  half- 
brother.  From  January  to  July  of  1832  he  resided 
with  Mr.  Jordan  in  Granville  County,  N.  C,  and  was 
doubtless  greatly  beuefited  by  intercourse  with  this 
gifted  brother,  who  had  already  entered  the  ministry. 
Rev.  William  Hill  Jordan  is  remembered  with  the 
highest  admiration  in  both  North  and  South  Carolina. 
Dr.  T.  H.  Pritchard  says  of  him :  "  I  do  not  think  I 
have  ever  known  a  more  devout  man ;  one  who  spent 
more  time  in  prayer,  or  who  seemed  to  live  in  closer 
communion  with  God.  Nor  was  he  less  eloquent  than 
his  more  distinguished  brother.  He  had  far  more  im- 
agination, and  was  more  widely  read.     I  should  judge 

*Rev.  W.  H.  Jordan. 


382  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

him  to  have  been  a  better  belles-lettres  scholar,  but  he 
was  not  so  remarkable  for  powers  of  reasoning,  in  which 
Dr.  Poindexter  excelled  any  man  I  have  ever  heard 
speak.  The  two  most  eloquent  speeches  I  ever  heard 
in  all  my  life  were  made  by  these  two  brothers.  In 
1866  the  State  Convention  met  in  Wilmington.  Mr. 
Jordan  had  once  been  pastor  there.  He  was  called  out 
on  some  report  relating  to  the  progress  of  the  denomi- 
nation, and  delivered  an  impromptu  address  of  twenty 
minutes,  abounding  in  personal  reminiscences — which  in 
point  of  pure  eloquence  surpassed  anything  I  ever  heard 
from  mortal  lips.  It  was  simply  transcendent ;  and 
gave  me  a  conception  of  the  orator  higher  than  any  I 
ever  entertained  before.'^    Mr.  Jordan  lived  till  1883. 

It  was  at  this  period,  January  25,  1832,  when  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two,  that  young  Poindexter  began  to  keep 
a  diary,  or  "  Remembrancer/'  which  he  continued  for 
five  years,  and  which  is  still  preserved.  The  earliest 
entries  lament  his  want  of  devotional  feeling,  and  one 
of  them  mentions  doubts  as  to  his  call  to  the  ministry. 
But  he  is  prayerful  and  determined,  and  sometimes  full 
of  faith  and  love. 

In  the  summer  of  1832,  under  the  influence  of  his 
brother,  the  young  preacher  determined  to  go  and  study 
with  Abner  "W.  Clopton,  in  Charlotte  Co.,  Virginia. 
Mr.  Clopton  had  been  a  teacher  for  many  years  before 
he  began  to  preach,  and  in  his  later  years  was  fond  of 
having  one  or  two  young  ministers  with  him,  whose 
studies  he  would  direct  and  assist,  and  who  aided  him 
as  pastor  of  country  churches.  He  impressed  himself 
profoundly  upon  such  young  men,  and  his  influence 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.   POINDEXTER.  383 

upon  young  Poindexter's  piety  was  excellent.  He  had 
many  books,  and  the  youth  doubtless  read  widely,  in  a 
desultory  fashion,  but  with  much  reflection  and  with 
fine  powers  of  memory.  He  stated,  at  a  later  period, 
that  he  learned  very  little  of  theology  from  Mr.  Clop- 
ton,  and  nothing  of  homiletics.  Clopton  was  a  preacher 
of  great  power;  but,  after  the  fashion  of  the  time,  his 
preparations  were  by  no  means  methodical.  Poindexter 
was  fond  of  saying  in  later  life  that  it  would  have  been 
of  the  greatest  advantage  to  him  if  in  youth  he  could 
have  had  some  such  treatise  on  the  Preparation  and 
Delivery  of  Sermons  as  those  which  now  abound.  Dr. 
Brown  thinks  that  Clopton  probably  awakened  his 
pupil's  zeal  for  the  cause  of  Temperance,  in  regard  to 
which  he  was  the  great  Virginia  leader  at  that  time, 
and  of  which  Poindexter  became  a  life-long  advocate, 
equally  zealous  and  moderate ;  also  that  Clopton  directed 
his  attention  to  the  teachings  of  Alexander  Campbell, 
which  in  after  years  he  studied  with  singular  thorough- 
ness. In  the  first  number  of  "  The  Commission,'^  July, 
1856,  Dr.  Poindexter  says  the  following  was  given  him 
by  his  "venerated  instructor  in  ministerial  duty,  the 
late  Rev.  A.  W.  Clopton,'^  viz. :  "  Never  suffer  an  op- 
portunity to  pass  unimproved,  when  you  can  properly 
introduce  religious  conversation  with  the  unconverted." 
Coming  to  us  from  two  such  eminent  and  useful  minis- 
ters, this  counsel  ought  to  be  read  again  and  remem- 
bered well. 

During  this  year,  1832,  especially  in  the  latter  half, 
when  he  was  living  with  Mr.  Clopton,  our  young  min- 
ister   preached    quite    frequently.     In    September   he 


384  MEMOKIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

preached  in  a  four  days'  meeting  at  Ash  Camp,  and 
''  Lord's  Day  was  a  melting  time."  In  October  he  vis- 
ited his  relatives  in  North  Carolina,  and  "  tried  to 
preach  ten  times."  At  an  association,  an  old  minister 
"blundered  greatly  in  his  sermon,  and  I  thought  it  my 
duty  to  correct  his  errors.  O  Lord,  if  I  was  actuated 
by  any  improper  motive,  make  me  to  see  it.  This  mat- 
ter has  caused  me  much  uneasiness,  but  I  cannot  feel 
that  I  acted  wrong.  I  fear  the  brother  is  deeply  hurt 
with  me  for  it.  May  the  Lord  heal  the  breach,  forgive 
us  both  all  our  sins,  and  save  us  with  an  everlasting 
salvation."  Thus  early  began  the  practice  of  that  free- 
spoken  but  loving  criticism  of  his  ministerial  brethren, 
for  which  Poindexter  was  remarkable  through  life,  and 
to  which  many  hundreds  of  ministers  now  look  back 
with  profound  gratitude. 

On  the  12th  of  February,  1833,  A.  M.  Poindexter 
entered  Columbian  College  (now  Columbian  University), 
Washington  City,  which  had  then  been  in  operation  for 
ten  years.  Several  able  professors  had  already  been 
connected  with  the  struggling  institution,  and  some  of 
its  early  students  became  eminent  ministers.  The  pres- 
ident, when  Poindexter  entered,  was  Dr.  Stephen 
Chapin,  and  among  the  professors  were  William  Rug- 
gles,  Adiel  Sherwood  and  J.  Chaplin.  Poindexter  re- 
mained at  the  college  less  than  twelve  months,  and  for 
a  considerable  part  of  that  time  was  seriously  ill.  His 
preparation  for  entering  upon  college  studies  was  meagre 
and  irregular,  including  little  Ijatin,  no  Greek,  and  not 
much  of  mathematics.  He  was  soon  perceived  to  be  a 
preacher   of   extraordinary  pov/ers,  and  was  greatly  in 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.   rOINDEXTER.  385 

demand  in  the  churches  of  Washington  and  Alexan- 
dria. He  made  careful  preparation  for  these  sermons, 
and  amid  the  novel  surroundings  doubtless  threw  into 
them  all  the  passionate  ardor  of  his  nature.  Meantime 
he  was  studying  eagerly,  especially  striving  to  get  up 
Greek.  On  April  1st  he  learned  from  the  Religious 
Herald  the  death  of  A.  W.  Clopton,  which  he  notices 
in  the  diary  with  deep  feeling ;  and  a  few  days  later 
Avas  astonished  by  the  receipt  of  a  letter  requesting  him 
to  go  and  become  pastor  of  Clopton^s  churches.  Upon 
this  he  wrote  to  his  brother  for  advice,  who  had  recently 
left  the  college  and  gone  to  the  Newton  Institution. 
The  following  Sunday,  preaching  a  second  time  at  the 
Navy  Yard,  the  church  requested  him  to  preach  regu- 
larly, "  once  a  Sabbath.  .  .  .  and  say  they  will  re- 
munerate me/'  For  the  first  Sunday  under  this  en- 
gagement he  mentions  that  they  gave  him  five  dollars. 
He  speaks  of  rooming  v/ith  "Brother  Herndon,"  proba- 
bly the  gifted  and  lovable  Traverse  D.  Herndon,  ot 
Loudoun  County.  The  week  following  the  Navy  Yard 
engagement,  after  unusual  exercise  one  day  he  began  to 
feel  very  weak,  and  to  spit  blood.  He  had  to  give  up 
study  on  Saturday,  but  still  preached  on  Sunday.  He 
determined  to  take  more  exercise.  With  the  close  of 
April  the  college  session  ended,  but  Poindexter  decided 
to  remain  and  continue  his  studies  during  vacation.  He 
had  concluded  not  to  go  to  the  churches  in  Charlotte, 
through  desire  to  improve  his  education.  On  the  last 
Sunday  of  the  session  he  ])reacl)ed  in  O.  B  Brown's 
church,  which  was  the  principal  Baptist  Church  of  the 
city,  and  this  at  the  special  request  of  President  Chapin; 
25 


386  MEMORIAL   OF   A.   M.    POINDEXTER. 

which  shows  how  highly  the  young  student's  ministerial 
abilities  were  already  appreciated.  Before  a  week  of 
the  vacation  study  has  ended  he  speaks  of  "  an  almost 
incessant  cough,  and  great  soreness  of  the  throat  and 
chest;"  but  though  quite  hoarse,  he  ''made  out  to 
speak  to-day  at  the  Navy  Yard."  A  week  later  comes 
an  outburst  of  thanksgiving  that  "  Brother  C.  and 
Cousin  A.  have  sent  me  twenty  dollars  to  procure  a 
commentary."  It  is  greatly  to  be  feared  that  he  bought 
Dr.  GilFs  Commentary,  for  what  else  could  a  young 
Baptist  minister  of  that  day  be  expected  to  procure? 
Some  time  in  May  he  preached  the  dedication  sermon 
for  the  Central  Baptist  Church  at  Washington,  and 
either  before  or  after  preaching  w^ote  out  the  discourse, 
which  is  still  in  existence.  On  June  2d  he  was  quite 
prostrated  by  preaching  twice,  and  thought  he  must 
"  give  up  regular  preaching,"  and  he  did  abandon  the 
Navy  Yard  engagement  a  few  weeks  later.  One  of 
these  sermons  on  June  2d  was  upon  the  Training  of 
Children,  Proverbs  22  :  6,  and  is  preserved.  It  shows 
some  crudeness  of  style,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
but  is  rich  with  just  thoughts,  expressed  in  terse  and 
vigorous  fashion,  with  occasional  outbursts  of  impas- 
sioned exhortation.  Two  features  are  observable  in  this 
and  the  dedication  sermon,  that  marked  his  preaching 
through  life, — 1.  Everything  was  argued  out ;  2.  The 
treatment  of  the  subject  takes  a  very  wide  range.  Both 
these  and  the  early  sermons  of  which  we  have  only 
notes,  insist  much  on  the  atonement,  on  religious  earn- 
estness and  on  obedience. 

A  new  session  of  the  college  commenced  July  3d. 


MEMORIAL  OF   A.   M.   TOINDEXTER.  387 

But  Poindexter  had  become  seriously  enfeebled,  ond 
was  threatened  with  consumption ;  so  from  July  21st  to 
November  8th  he  traveled  to  improve  his  health. 
There  is  no  account  of  the  journey,  but  he  thought  his 
recovery  was  perhaps  retarded  by  preaching  too  much 
while  traveling.  We  can  well  suppose  that  people  were 
eager  to  hear  him,  and  he  was  burning  with  zeal.  After 
returning  to  college  in  November  he  speaks  of  "  an  ugly 
cough,'^  and  ^'  health  very  precarious,"  and  presently, 
for  some  weeks,  ^^  a  severe  attack  of  pleurisy."  Hence- 
forth he  had  always  a  strong  tendency  to  bronchitis, 
and  it  was  a  violent  attack  of  that  disease,  passing  into 
pneumonia,  that  ended  his  life.  Dr.  Brown  somewhere 
refers  to  "  that  terrible  bronchitis  which  was  ag-ain  and 
again  throttling  him  all  the  days  of  his  mature  life." 
In  December  he  speaks  of  being  impressed  by  reading 
an  account  of  the  "  Darkness  of  Burmah,"  and  by  re- 
ports of  "  the  truth  taking  hold  in  that  dark  land."  We 
know  that  it  was  just  then  that  Judson's  work  began  to 
have  large  and  encouraging  results.  On  January  20, 
1834,  he  records  that  after  long  consideration  he  per- 
ceives his  health  to  be  too  frail  for  the  student  life,  and 
has  determined  to  leave  for  North  Carolina. 

We  see  from  all  this  that  Poindexter  was  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  desirableness  of  regular  education,  and 
made  determined  and  almost  desperate  efforts  to  obtain 
it,  giving  up  only  when  his  very  life  was  in  peril. 
Such  education  would  scarcely  have  made  him  a  better 
speaker,  save  in  furnishing  a  wider  range  of  illustration; 
but  it  would  have  made  him  a  much  better  writer.  Dr. 
Chapin,  in  a  written  criticism  on  one  of  his  early  com- 


388  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

positions,  said,  *^  If  I  could  write  as  well  as  you  can,  I 
would  write  better  than  you  do.'^  Dr.  T.  W.  Sydnor 
entered  Columbian  College  two  years  after  Poindexter 
left,  and  says :  "  He  was  spoken  of  as  a  young  man  of 
uncommon  mental  vigor  and  of  studious  habits,  but 
a  little  restive  under  the  routine  and  restraint  of  college 
life.  He  did  not  apply  himself  closely  to  the  college 
text-books,  preferring  to  arrange  a  course  of  study  for 
himself.  I  think  he  was  not  fond  of  classical  or  math- 
ematical studies  or  of  belles-lettres,  but  preferred  philo- 
sophical and  scientific  studies."  The  explanation  of 
this  account  seems  to  be,  that  with  very  feeble  health 
and  extreme  nervous  sensitiveness,  he  would  every  day 
grow  weary  of  attempts  to  master  the  elements  of  class- 
ics and  mathematics,  and  in  his  prostrated  condition 
would  seek  refreshment  in  his  favorite  lines  of  reading. 
Far  from  fancying  himself  superior  to  the  regular  drill 
of  college  study,  he  never  ceased  to  lament  that  he  had 
lacked  that  early  advantage,  and  would  not  unfrequently 
allude  to  it  when  urging  young  men  to  put  themselves 
through  the  most  thorough  possible  training. 

Leaving  Washington,  he  tarried  some  time  with  rela- 
tives in  Louisa  County,  his  health  rapidly  improving, 
and  afterwards  stopped  in  Charlotte.  Here,  through 
fatigue  and  exposure  in  waiting  on  a  sick  friend,  he  had 
an  attack  of  "  bilious  pleurisy,"  which  brought  him 
"  to  the  gates  of  death."  His  physician  and  friends 
thought  that  he  would  not  recover  ;  and  the  celebrated 
Luther  Kice,  who  was  visiting  the  neighborhood  at  that 
time,  told  him  afterwards  that  he  had  begun  to  prepare 
his  obituary.     Reaching  his  North   Carolina  home  in 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  389 

March,  he  speaks  in  his  diary  of  his  afflictions  as  a 
means  of  spiritual  benefit ;  saying  that  during  the  sick- 
ness he  had  more  full  and  elevated  views  than  ever  be- 
fore of  '^  the  character  of  God,  the  glory  of  Christ,  and 
the  blessings  of  the  Gospel." 

As  soon  as  he  felt  well  enough  he  began  to  travel  and 
preach.  Through  letters  from  his  friends,  Deacon 
Eoach  and  Rev.  Daniel  Witt,  he  presently  came  to  a 
protracted  meeting  at  Catawba  Church,  Halifax  County, 
Va.  The  result  was  a  call  to  that  church  and  to 
Clarksville,  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Mecklenburg. 
After  due  consideration  he  settled  with  these  churches 
in  July,  1834,  having  been  ordained  a  month  earlier  at 
his  home  church  in  Bertie  County,  tlie  Presbytery  consist- 
ing of  Elders  James  Ross,  Reuben  Lawrence  and  Andrew 
McCraig.  He  was  now  nearly  twenty-five  years  of  age. 
His  health  was  still  quite  feeble,  and  he  speaks  of  him- 
self as  ^^in  danger  of  having  a  liver  disease.''  This 
would,  of  course,  aggravate  the  trouble  of  throat  and 
chest,  and  would  be  itself  increased  by  the  immense  ex- 
citement which  attended  his  zealous  preaching.  AVe 
are  not  surprised  to  find  him  taken  ill  during  a  pro- 
tracted meeting  in  Bertie  County,  just  after  his  ordi- 
nation. 

Here,  then,  began  Brother  Poindexter's  life  as  a  pastor, 
when  a  little  less  than  twenty-five  years  old.  He  soon  en- 
ters upon  systematic  visiting  in  his  church,  endeavoring 
to  "  stir  them  up  to  active  piety.''  He  has  "  presented  a 
plan  which  seems  likely,  from  the  satisfaction  they  ex- 
press in  it,  to  draw  forth  and  unite  the  brethren  in 
support  of  the  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  Christian 


390  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POIN  DEXTER. 

public."  This  is  interestiDg,  for  it  shows  the  young 
pastor  as  uncousciously  prepariug  to  become  the  great 
agent.  At  this  time  begins  a  new  manuscript  volume 
of  sketches  of  sermons,  and  in  September  a  funeral  ser- 
mon is  written  out  in  full.  In  October  he  '4ieard  some 
pleasant  news  from  AVake  Forest  Institute — very  flour- 
ishing— great  revival,  in  which  twenty  students  pro- 
fessed conversion.  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul."  He 
speaks  of  attending  the  Roanoke  Association  with  great 
pleasure.  Another  passage  may  be  quoted  from  the 
diary,  as  showing  the  beginnings  of  a  life-work.  "  In 
view  of  the  success  that  has  attended  several  efforts 
lately  made  for  the  adjustment  of  difficulties  between 
brethren,  I  feel  encouraged  never  to  consider  any  case 
as  hopeless  so  long  as  prayer  and  eifort  can  be  made  in 
it ;  and  am  determined  to  secure  the  promise  to  peace- 
makers." Far  and  w^ide  over  Virginia  and  the  whole 
Southern  country  did  the  A.  M.  Poindexter  of  subsequent 
years  carry  his  wise  and  loving  eiforts  to  make  peace  be- 
tween individuals,  and  to  restore  harmony  in  churches 
and  Associations.  The  diary,  or  Eemembrancer,  is  full 
here,  as  often  elsewhere,  of  devout  lamentations,  thanks- 
givings, supplications  and  solemn  dedication  of  himself 
to  God.  We  find  him  striking  out  to  preach  in  various 
directions ;  among  other  places,  a  monthly  appointment 
at  an  Episcopal  church  near  Halifax  Court-House.  In 
December  he  receives  a  letter  from  James  B.  Taylor, 
inquiring,  "How  do  you  feel,  my  dear  brother,  respecting 
a  mission  to  the  heathen?  Have  you  thought  much 
about  China  and  South  America  as  interesting  fields  of 
labor  ?  "     This  was  a  dozen  years  before  Dr.  Taylor  be- 


MEMORIAL   OF    A.    M.    POIXDEXTER.  391 

came  Foreign  Mission  Secretary.  Busy  as  a  Richmond 
pastor,  toiling  at  a  voluntary  agency  for  the  Virginia 
Baj)tist  Seminary  (afterward  Richmond  College),  and 
anxiously  corresponding  and  advising  as  to  Baptist  af- 
fairs in  Baltimore,  he  still  found  time  to  address  this 
inquiry  to  the  gifted  young  pastor  in  Halifax,  five  years 
his  junior.  What  they  were  consulting  about  was  For- 
eign Mission  work  in  connection  with  the  Boston 
Board.  How  little  could  they  suppose  that  twenty  years 
later  they  two  were  to  be  Foreign  Mission  Secretaries 
together  in  Richmond.  To  the  above  mention  of  Taylor's 
letter  Poindexter  adds,  "  O  Lord,  I  am  thy  servant. 
Send  me  whither  thou  wilt,  only  let  thy  presence  be 
with  me  wherever  I  may  be."  A  few  weeks  later  he 
replies  to  Taylor,  '^  I  have  for  a  long  time  been  consid- 
erably exercised  relative  to  becoming  a  missionary.  But 
I  do  not  now  think  it  my  duty.''  We  know  very  well 
that  his  health  would  by  no  means  have  justified  his 
going  forth  as  a  Foreign  Missionary.  In  February, 
3  835,  he  mentions  receiving  a  letter  from  Brother  Lu- 
ther Rice.  Dr.  Brown  states  that  at  this  period  Poin- 
dexter was  much  in  company  with  Rice,  who  loved  to 
visit  Halifax,  and  sojourn  at  the  hospitable  home  of 
Mrs.  Wimbish,  where  the  young  pastor  was  living.  In 
later  life  he  declared  Luther  Rice  to  have  been  "  in 
virtues  among  the  first,  and  in  talents  the  first  of  those 
whom  he  had  intimately  known."  Dr.  Jeter  states,  in 
an  editorial  after  Poindexter's  death:  "We  remember 
to  have  heard  Luther  Rice,  who  possessed  a  discriminat- 
ing judgment  and  was  widely  acquainted  with  the  rising 
ministry  of  the  United  States,  say  of  Poindexter,  soon 


392  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

after  he  commenced  preaching,  that  he  was  the  most 
promising  young  preacher  whom  he  knew.'^  This  in- 
tercourse with  Rice  would  deepen  Poindexter's  interest 
in  missions  and  in  ministerial  education,  the  two  great 
objects  to  which  Jiis  life  was  to  be  mainly  devoted.  Lu- 
ther Rice  died  the  following  year. 

Some  time  in  1835  Mr.  Poindexter  planned  seven 
lectures  "On  the  Evidences  of  the  Divine  Authenticity 
of  the  Bible."  The  titles  of  the  seven  are  given  at  the 
beginning  of  a  note-book,  and  follow  the  usual  method 
of  lectures  on  evidences  at  that  time.  Two  of  the  lec- 
tures are  written  out  in  the  book.  It  is  likely  he 
concluded,  after  reflecting  upon  his  experiments,  and 
consulting  with  wise  hearers,  not  to  complete  the  course. 
A  series  of  really  useful  lectures  on  the  Evidences  must 
always  require  mature  wisdom,  and  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  kind  of  difficulties  existing  in  the  community 
addressed.  Otherwise  one  may  do  more  to  awaken  doubts 
than  to  allay  them.  He  who  thoroughly  knows  the  under- 
lying tendencies  of  his  time,  and  can  silently  correct  such 
as  are  evil  by  simply  enforcing  the  corresponding  truth, 
will  always  do  great  good.  The  outlines  of  sermons  vvhich 
remain  from  this  period  show  diligent  study  of  Scrip- 
ture, thoughtful  and  sober  interpretation,  and  a  fairly 
good,  but  not  remarkable,  talent  for  the  construction  of 
discourses. 

Thus  passed  tho  two  years  of  this  early  pastorate  in 
Halifax.  In  the  spring  of  1836  he  mentions  taking  a 
trip  to  raise  money  for  printing  the  Burman  Bible. 
The  results  for  this  object  are  not  stated.  But  during 
the  journey  he  met  with  Elder  Daniel  Witt,  who  spoke 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  393 

of  having  just  declined  a  call  to  Charlottesville,  and  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  his  friend  would  be  the  man 
for  the  place.  In  June,  Poindexter  attended  the  Gen- 
eral Association  in  Richmond,  and  there  received  a  call 
to  Charlottesville.  He  resigned  the  churches  in  Hali- 
fax and  went  to  Charlottesville  in  August,  to  stay  some 
months  and  see  whether  he  would  remain  permanently. 
The  village  had  then  eight  hundred  to  one  thousand  in- 
habitants. He  was  interested  in  the  field  and  preached 
much  in  the  country  around.  He  established  a  Minis- 
ter's meeting,  and  got  on  foot  a  plan,  by  which  several 
months  of  voluntary  missionary  labor  would  be  given 
to  the  churches  of  the  Albemarle  Association.  But 
there  were  two  difficulties  in  the  way  of  his  remaining 
at  Charlottesville.  His  health  "  seemed  to  be  sinking 
under  the  rigor  of  the  climate  and  the  severity  of  labor 
necessary  to  meet  my  engagements."  This  helps  to  ex- 
plain his  life-long  course.  He  had  a  high  standard  of 
pulpit  excellence  and  always  preached  with  consuming 
earnestness  and  exhausting  effort.  He  was  inclined  to 
take  large  subjects  and  expatiate  in  each  discourse  over 
an  ample  range  of  thought.  To  prepare  two  or  three 
such  discourses  a  week  and  at  the  same  time  look  out 
for  general  improvement,  to  which  he  would  be  stimu- 
lated by  proximity  to  a  great  institution  of  learning, 
soon  proved  too  severe  a  task  for  the  constitution  which 
had  utterly  given  out  at  college  and  Avhose  restless  and 
sensitive  energies  would  again  and  again  demand  trav- 
elling as  a  necessary  condition  of  health.  The  other 
difficulty  was  that  he  had  formed,  during  the  period  of 
his  sojourn  at  Charlottesville,  an  engagement  of  mar^ 


394  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

riage  with  a  lady  in  Halifax.  The  Charlottesville 
Church  could  not  offer  a  sufficient  salary  to  support 
their  young  pastor  and  a  wife — and  the  affianced  lady 
possessed  a  good  country  home  in  Halifax.  Thus  ended 
his  brief  stay  in  Charlottesville  fifty  years  ago.  Dr. 
Brown  says  :  "His  six  months'  pastorate  in  Charlottes- 
ville was  for  its  length  the  most  fruitful  in  good  that  I 
have  known.  The  very  best  material  in  the  church  for 
the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years  was  brought  in  under 
his  ministry." 

After  a  visit  to  Raleigh,  where  his  brother,  Mr.  Jor- 
dan, was  now  pastor,  and  their  mother  lived  with  him, 
Mr.  Poindexter  was  married,  in  Halifax,  May  25, 1837, 
to  Mrs.  Eliza  J.  Craddock,  the  widowed  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Wimbish.  They  settled  on  his  wife's  plantation, 
which  continued  to  be  his  place  of  residence  for  the 
next  seventeen  years  or  more.  Here  the  Remembrancer 
ends,  as  promptly  after  the  marriage  as  if  it  had  been  a 
novel.  Henceforth  we  have  few  minute  details  concern- 
ing Brother  Poindexter's  life.  He  was  pastor  of  vari- 
ous churches  in  Halifax  and  Charlotte  Counties,  viz. : 
Catawba,  Hunting  Creek,  Millstone,  Republican  Grove, 
Beth  Car  and  Charlotte  C.  H.  He  had  charge  of  the 
plantation  and  negroes,  and  there  were  four  children  of 
his  wife's  former  marriage.  Dr.  Jeter  says  :  "The  mar- 
riage proved  to  be  one  of  great  happiness  and  useful- 
ness. Mrs.  Poindexter  was  a  lady  of  great  excellence, 
the  light  of  his  house  and  his  counsellor,  and  for  many 
years  shared  his  burdens  and  promoted  his  success." 

For  sevieral  years  after  his  marriage  we  have  no  in- 
cidents in  the  life  of  the  quiet  country  pastor.     Dr.  T. 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.   POINDEXTER.  395 

"Vy.  Sydnor  considers  that  he  was  "  not  successful  as  a 
pastor,  either  in  adding  to  numbers,  or  in  promoting 
efficiency ; "  but  adds  that  he  was  all  the  time  "  ex- 
ceedingly popular  and  regarded  as  incomparably  the 
ablest  minister  of  any  denomination  in  all  that  region, 
and  crowds  attended  upon  his  ministry."  Dr.  Brown, 
in  one  of  his  addresses,  insists  that  Poindexter's  preach- 
ing, at  protracted  meetings  and  in  his  own  churches, 
while  not  productive  of  numerous  conversions,  brought 
in  highly  valuable  material.  To  the  remark  already 
quoted  concerning  Charlottesville,  he  adds :  "  And  at 
Hunting  Creek  and  Millstone,  till  how  recent  a  time 
were  the  best  elements  in  each  church  the  fruits  of  a 
preaching  which  combined  the  red-hot  logic  of  Fox 
with  the  saintly  fervor  of  Stephen." 

In  1842  Mr.  Poindexter  published  in  the  Baptist 
Preacher  a  sermon  on  "  Piety  the  Chief  Element  of 
Ministerial  Power,"  which  had  been  delivered  before 
the  Virginia  Baptist  Education  Society  at  its  June 
meeting.  This  appears  to  have  been  his  first  published 
sermon,  and  is  one  of  the  best  we  have  from  his  pen. 
We  shall  have  occasion  to  point  back  to  it  hereafter, 
but  must  quote  a  few  words  at  present :  **'  Brethren  of 
the  Educational  Society,  let  me  entreat  you  not  to  over- 
look, in  your  anxiety  to  give  the  churches  an  educated 
ministry,  the  supreme  importance  of  furnishing  them 
at  the  same  time  with  a  pious  ministry.  Require  de- 
cided evidence  of  a  supreme  devotion  to  the  Saviour  in 
all  whom  you  receive  as  your  beneficiaries.  And  al- 
ways endeavor  to  impress  upon  them  the  importance  of 
high  attainments  in  the  divine  life."     Preached  with 


396  MEMORIAL  OF  A.   M.   POINDEXTER. 

his  overwhelming  earnestness,  this  judicious  and  prac- 
tical sermon  doubtless  made  a  great  impression,  and  it 
may  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  fact  that  a 
year  later,  in  1843,  Columbian  College  conferred  on 
him  the  honorary  degree  of  D.D.  He  was  then  at  the 
age  of  thirty-six.  In  that  year  he  published  in  the 
Religious  Herald  a  series  of  articles  on  the  connection 
between  baptism  and  the  remission  of  sins.  These 
papers  show  his  profound  study  of  the  controversies  ex- 
cited by  Mr.  Campbell  and  his  followers.  Dr.  Sydnor 
states  that  they  were  written  at  his  house  during  a  visit 
of  several  days,  and  that  as  published  they  attracted 
much  attention. 

It  was  in  1845  that  Dr.  Poindexter  was  first  induced 
to  become  an  agent.  The  Columbian  College,  of  which 
he  had  for  a  short  time  been  a  student,  and  which  had 
recently  honored  him  with  its  degree,  desired  to  make  a 
special  effort  for  the  increase  of  its  endowment,  being 
encouraged  by  a  conditional  offer  of  ten  thousand  dollars 
from  John  Withers,  of  Alexandria.  This  agency  lasted 
three  years,  to  1848.  It  w^as  followed  by  that  of  Dr. 
Wm.  F.  Broaddus,  upon  another  offer  from  Mr.  Withers. 
Professor  A.  J.  Huntington  finds  in  the  archives  of 
Columbian  College  Dr.  Poindexter's  final  report,  show- 
ing that  he  paid  over  to  the  treasurer  more  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars,  besides  Mr.  Withers^  subscription. 
His  home  was  still  in  Halifax.  His  custom  was, 
throughout  all  his  agencies,  whenever  distance  and  other 
circumstances  would  admit,  to  spend  one  week  of  every 
month  at  home.  In  April,  1846,  we  find  in  the  Baptist 
Preacher  a  funeral  sermon  which  he  had  preached  at 
Antioch,  in  Charlotte  County. 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  397 

In  August,  1846,  while  pursuing  this  agency  for  Col- 
umbian College,  he  attended  the  Potomac  Association — 
or  was  it  not  then  called  Salem  Union  ? — at  Upperville, 
Fauquier  County,  and  preached  two  sermons,  which  are 
vividly  remembered  by  at  least  one  person  who  was 
present,  and  which  may  be  referred  to  as  illustrating  the 
usefulness  of  many  kinds  which  Dr.  Poindexter  always 
connected  with  agency- work.  A  youth,  who  had  been 
teaching  school  in  that  vicinity  two  or  three  years,  had 
just  been  released  in  order  to  enter  the  University  of 
Virginia  and  study  medicine.  For  three  years  a  pro- 
fessed Christian,  he  had  often  thought  about  the  question 
of  becoming  a  minister,  but  considered  himself  to  have 
finally  decided  that  it  was  not  his  duty.  On  Sunday 
Dr.  Poindexter  preached  upon  Glorying  in  the  Cross. 
The  young  man  had  often  heard  with  enthusiasm  and 
delight  such  truly  eloquent  and  noble  preachers  as 
Barnett  Grimsley,  Cumberland  George  and  Henry  W. 
Dodge  ;  but  he  thought,  that  Sunday  at  Upperville,  that 
he  had  never  before  imagined  what  preaching  might  be, 
never  before  conceived  the  half  of  the  grandeur  and 
glory  that  gather  sublime  around  the  cross  of  Christ. 
One  allusion  is  remembered  across  the  forty  years,  show- 
ing how  Dr.  Poindexter,  like  all  other  highly  effective 
preachers,  would  draw  illustration  from  things  just  then 
going  on.  Dr.  Judson  had  for  some  time  been  on  a  visit 
to  America.  The  story  of  his  early  sufferings  had  become 
familiar  to  all  intelligent  Baptist  people  through  the 
memoir  of  his  first  wife,  true  heroine  that  she  was.  The 
Religious  Herald  had  acquainted  us  all  with  the  career 
and  character  of  that  noble   woman,  the  second  Mrs. 


398  MEMOPvIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

Jiidson,  who  had  been  buried  at  Saint  Helena.  And 
now  it  had  been  only  a  few  days  since  Dr.  Judson  and 
his  third  wife  had  sailed  from  Boston.  It  is  perhaps 
impossible,  after  recalling  all  these  circumstances,  to 
appreciate  the  charm  and  transporting  power  of  the 
preacher's  allusion,  when,  in  urging  self-sacrificing  devo- 
tion to  the  cause  of  Christ,  he  said — '^  Like  her  who  is 
buried  beneath  the  Hopia  tree,  or  her  who  sleeps  on  the 
rock  of  ocean,  or  her  who  now  gently  ministers  to 
declining  age.^^  The  next  morning  Dr.  Poindexter  was 
requested  to  preach  at  11  o'clock  in  the  church,  the 
Association  adjourning  to  hear  him.  The  sermon  was 
one  which  he  often  preached  in  the  journeyings  of  later 
years,  on  the  Parable  of  the  Talents.  In  pressing  the 
duty  of  Christian  beneficence,  he  adopted  a  plan  which 
will  be  remembered  by  many  as  characteristic.  He  mas- 
tered the  complete  sympathy  of  many  hearers,  the  pros- 
perous Baptist  farmers  of  that  beautiful  region,  by  argu- 
ing long  and  earnestly  that  it  is  right  for  thf^  Christian 
to  gather  property,  and  right  to  provide  well  for  his 
family.  Excellent  brethren  were  charmed.  No  preacher 
had  ever  before  so  fully  justified  the  toil  and  sacrifices  by 
which  they  had  been  steadily  growing  rich.  They  looked 
across  the  house  into  the  faces  of  delighted  friends  ;  they 
smiled  and  winked  and  nodded  at  each  other  in  every 
direction.  But  when  the  preacher  had  gained  their  full 
sympathy,  the  sudden  appeal  he  made  to  consecrate  their 
wealth  to  the  highest  ends  of  existence,  to  the  good  of 
mankind  and  the  glory  of  Christ,  was  a  torrent,  a  tor- 
nado, that  swept  everything  before  it.  Presently  he 
spoke  of   consecrating  one's  mental   gifts  and  possible 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  399 

attainments  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He  seemed  to 
clear  np  all  difficulties  pertaining  to  the  sul)jeet ;  he 
swept  away  all  tlie  disguises  of  self-delusion,  all  the  ex- 
cuses of  a  fancied  humility  ;  he  held  up  the  thought  that 
the  greatest  sacrifices  and  toils  possible  to  a  minister's 
lifetime  wouh]  be  a  hundred-fold  repaid  if  lie  should  be 
the  instrument  of  saving  one  soul.  Doubtless  the  sermon 
had  many  more  important  results,  which  have  not  fallen 
in  the  way  of  being  recorded ;  but  when  intermission 
came,  the  young  man  who  has  been  mentioned  sought 
out  his  pastor,  and  with  a  choking  voice  said,  "  Brother 
Grimsley,  the  question  is  decided  ;  I  must  try  to  be  a 
preacher."  For  the  decision  of  that  hour  he  is  directly 
indebted,  under  God,  to  A.  M.  Poindexter;  and  amid  a 
thousand  imperfections  and  short-comings,  that  work  of 
the  ministry  has  been  the  joy  of  his  life. 

In  August,  1848,  Dr.  Poindexter  became  correspond- 
ing secretary  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Publication  So- 
ciety, Charleston,  S.  C,  and  held  the  office  more  than 
two  years.  His  duty  included  the  collection  of  funds, 
and  the  editing  and  publication  of  religious  books  and 
'tracts.  A  depository  was  established  in  Charleston, 
and  the  report  for  1849  gives  as  depository  agent  Eev. 
James  P.  Boyce,  who  was  then  editing  The  Southern 
Baptist  Dr.  Poindexter  did  not  take  his  family  to 
Charleston,  but  boarded  at  a  hotel.  Dr.  Boyce  remem- 
bers his  preaching  at  the  First  Church  two  sermons  on 
Imputation,  probably  occasioned  by  theological  discus- 
sions then  going  on  in  South  Carolina ;  and  in  1850  he 
published  in  The  Baptist  Preacher  three  sermons  on 
Imputation:    (1)  "The  Imputation   of  Adam's  sin  to 


400  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POIXDEXTER. 

his  posterity  ;  '^  (2)  "  The  Imputation  of  sin  to  Christ;" 
(3)  "The  Imputation  of  the  Righteousness  of  Christ  to 
Believers.''  This  was  the  first  publication  which  re- 
vealed, what  many  had  seen  from  his  sermons  and  con- 
versation, that  he  was  a  master  in  theological  thinking. 
The  young  Charleston  editor,  and  future  theological 
professor,  found  great  delight  in  the  sympathetic  com- 
parison of  views  with  one  who  had  independently 
wrought  out  that  same  system  of  theological  truth  which 
we  are  wont  to  call  Calvinism,  but  might  better  call 
Paulinism. 

Besides  meeting  annual  expenses.  Dr.  Poindexter  col- 
lected a  fund  of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  spent  in 
stereotyping  books.  Among  the  works  published  during 
his  term  of  service  as  secretary  was  the  "  Baptist  Psalm- 
ody,'' by  B.  Manly  and  B.  Manly,  Jr.,  issued  in  1850, 
and  one  of  the  very  best  hymn-books  in  existence.  Dr. 
Poindexter  and  B.  Manly,  Jr.,  spent  several  weeks  in 
Charleston  in  the  final  revision  of  this  collection,  and 
Poindexter  wrote  for  it  the  hymns  numbered  22,  416, 
840,  880,  893  and  950,  all  good  hymns,  though  scarcely 
of  remarkable  excellence. 

Dr.  Poindexter's  first  agency  for  Richmond  College 
extended  from  June,  1851,  to  June,  1854.  This  insti- 
tution began  in  1832,  as  the  Virginia  Baptist  Seminary, 
in  cliarge  of  the  always  beloved  and  now  venerable  Dr. 
Robert  Ryland.  In  1840  it  obtained  a  college  charter. 
Dr.  Poindexter's  agency  was  designed  by  the  trustees  to 
raise  eighty-five  thousand  dollars  for  endowment.  The 
resolution  put  on  record  at  the  close  of  his  agency,  viz. : 
"  The  trustees  hereby  express  their  high  sense  of  the 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  401 

self-denial,  industry  and  eminent  success  with  which  he 
has  prosecuted  his  work  for  the  past  three  years/' 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  he  had  ol:)tained  subscrip- 
tions for  the  whole  amount  proposed.  He  was  aided 
by  several  brethren  appointed  for  temporary  effort  in 
particular  localities.  How  easily  we  seem  thus  to  re- 
cord the  work  of  three  years  !  But  it  must  have  been  a 
season  of  much  laborious  journeying  by  every  species  of 
conveyance,  of  numerous  elaborate  and  exhausting  ad- 
dresses to  associations  and  churches,  and  of  unnumbered 
vehement  appeals  to  individuals,  which  w^ould  often 
kindle  him  to  as  glowing  and  consuming  excitement  as 
ordinary  men  feel  in  their  most  impassioned  public  dis- 
course. 

In  June,  1854,  began  a  new  form  of  labor,  which  was 
to  make  A.  M.  Poindexter  a  great  power  for  good 
throughout  the  Southern  States.  He  was  made  assistant 
secretary  to  the  Foreign  Mission  Board,  to  aid  the  labo- 
rious and  overburdened  secretary,  James  B.  Taylor. 
The  two  men  were  curiously  unlike.  Both  were  re- 
markable for  clear  intelligence  and  sound  judgment, 
both  were  eminently  pious,  and  both  had  prodigious 
strength  of  Avill.  But  one  was  an  extraordinary  speci- 
men of  suavity  and  gentleness,  while  the  other  was  ex- 
citable, impetuous,  and  to  all  appearance  very  likely  to 
be  impatient.  People  used  sometimes  to  wonder  whether 
it  was  possible  for  the  two  to  live  and  work  together 
without  unpleasant  collisions.  But  we  have  ample  tes- 
timony that  their  mutual  relations  were  uniformly  pleas- 
ant and  fraternal.  So  declares  Dr.  B.  Manly,  who  was 
a  particularly  active  member  of  the  Foreign  Mission 
26 


402  MEMORIAL   OF  A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

Board,  knowing  all  that  went  on.  Dr.  George  B.  Tay- 
lor says  :  "  They  Avere  almost  as  different  as  two  such 
good  men  could  be,  but  their  mutual  respect,  love,  con- 
fidence and  forbearance  was  perfect.  I  speak  what  I 
know  when  I  say  that  never  was  there  a  cloud  as  big  as 
a  man^s  hand  between  them."  Add  this  from  Dr. 
Charles  E.  Taylor:  '^  For  several  years  before  the  war 
he  and  my  father  sat  side  by  side  at  their  desks  in  the 
mission  room.  I,  a  half  grown  boy,  used  to  think  of 
them  as  John  and  Paul,  and  I  have  never  ceased  to 
think  that  there  was  much  in  Brother  Poindexter  that 
was  Paul-like.  He  was  self-reliant,  courageous,  vigor- 
ous in  thought  and  expression,  wonderfully  skilled  in 
dialectics,  and  withal,  transparent  and  tender-hearted  as  a 
child.  The  great  public  knew  the  deeper  side  of  his 
life.  My  own  memories  now  dwell  more  lovingly  upon 
its  surface  as  seen  by  me  in  those  early  days.  A  thou- 
sand little  hints  and  suggestions  of  his  I  can  never 
forget." 

Each  of  the  secretaries  spent  much  time  in  long  jour- 
neys throughout  the  South,  speaking  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions at  State  Conventions  or  General  Associations,  and 
very  often  at  such  particular  churches  as  they  could 
reach.  The  sweet  and  gracious  influence  of  Dr.  Tay- 
lor, in  such  visits,  is  well  remembered  by  our  older  pas- 
tors, and  its  spirit  is  embalmed  in  that  admirable 
memoir,  which  all  our  young  ministers  ought  to  read 
for  generations  to  come.  The  impression  made  by  Dr. 
Poindexter  in  those  more  distant  States  where  he  had 
not  been  known,  was  often  phenomenal.  He  had,  as  we 
have  seen,  been  deeply  interested   in  Foreign  Mission 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  403 

work  from  an  early  period.  lie  had  associated  on  the 
most  intimate  terms  with  Luther  Rice  himself.  Cut 
oif  by  ill-health  from  the  possibility  of  becoming  per- 
sonally a  Foreign  Missionary,  he  felt  all  the  more 
anxious  to  awaken  prayerful  interest  and  elicit  gener- 
ous contributions  in  behalf  of  those  who  had  been  able 
to  go.  And  now  that  all  his  thoughts  and  toils  were 
given  to  this  great  enterprise,  we  can  dimly  imagine 
how  before  his  ardent  gaze  it  must  have  risen  high  as 
heaven  and  spread  wide  as  the  universe.  The  powerful 
arguments  and  the  transporting  appeals  in  one  of  those 
grand  addresses  of  his  before  some  State  Convention 
would  make  themselves  felt  by  all  the  more  susceptible 
minds  throughout  the  State.  Besides  speaking  in  pub- 
lic and  in  private  for  his  own  special  enterprise,  he  did 
great  good  in  many  other  ways.  There  were  growing 
in  those  years  among  Southern  Baptists  certain  marked 
divergences  of  opinion,  which  at  one  time  seriously 
threatened  to  produce  utter  alienation  and  denomina- 
tional division.  Not  a  few  were  driven  by  mutual  an- 
tagonism to  insist  on  extreme  positions  and  to  indulge 
unbrotherly  feelings.  The  survivors  of  those  conflicts 
would  doubtless  gladly  agree  to-day  that  there  was  much 
misunderstanding,  and  would  heartily  unite  in  thanking 
God  that  we  now  see  no  occasion  for  division  upon 
any  of  the  questions  involved.  But  at  that  time  Poin- 
dexter  was  a  very  important  connecting  link  between 
the  alienated  extremes.  He  was  anything  else  than  a 
half-way  man.  He  took  a  strong  and  bold  denomina- 
tional position.  But  it  was  such  as  enabled  him  to 
sympathize  more  or  less  with  both  sides  in  the  existing 


404  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POIXDEXTER. 

controversies.  Few  might  exactly  agree  with  liis  views, 
but  almost  all  inclined  to  claim  him  as  substantially 
agreeing  with  themselves.  And  if  the  matter  were  now 
deemed  worth  discussion,  it  would  probably  appear  that 
very  many  at  the  present  time  think  almost  exactly  as 
he  thought.  At  any  rate,  his  influence  in  respect  to 
those  controversies  was  powerful  and  wholesome. 

There  probably  nev^er  was  an  agent  in  all  the  world 
more  completely  free  from  all  the  narrowness  of  exclu- 
sive devotion  to  his  own  particular  enterprise.  AVhen- 
ever  occasion  arose  in  his  own  State,  or  in  any  other 
that  he  was  visiting,  Poindexter  would  throw  his  whole 
soul  into  an  appeal  for  any  other  denominational  under- 
taking, especially  if  it  were  for  Home  or  State  Missions 
or  for  the  Higher  Education.  He  was  broad  and  high 
enough  in  intellect  to  perceive  that  such  a  course  was 
good  policy.  But  he  was  so  full  of  generosity  and 
great- heartedness,  so  prompt  in  brotherly  sympathy  and 
interested  in  every  department  of  Christian  work,  that 
he  would  engage  in  such  advocacy  from  sheer  love  of 
the  brethren  and  love  of  the  cause.  It  was  at  this 
period,  1857,  that  he  made  the  great  speech  at  Raleigh, 
in  behalf  of  Wake  Forest  College,  to  which  we  have 
already  alluded,  under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  T.  H.  Prit- 
chard.  ^'  The  Baptist  State  Convention  met  in  the 
State  House,  and  the  subject  of  Poindexter's  address 
was  Education  and  the  endowment  of  Wake  Forest 
College.  W^ithin  half  an  hour  after  the  speech  Avas 
closed,  about  twenty-seven  thousand  dollars  was  sub- 
scribed to  the  endowment.  During  the  delivery  of  the 
address  I  saw  Governor  Thomas  Bragg  on  the  floor  of 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  405 

the  'oody,  and  observed  how  deeply  he  was  moved.  He 
was,  ill  his  day,  the  first  Lawyer  in  North  Carolina, 
and  no  mean  master  of  oratory  himself;  and  he  pro- 
nounced that  speech  the  most  powerful  he  ever  heard 
in  his  life."  Cases  have  been  mentioned,  in  which,  at 
some  State  Convention  or  local  Association,  there  would 
arise  question  as  to  precedence,  in  presenting  Home  or 
Foreign  Missions  ;  Poindexter  would  cheerfully  concede 
the  first  opportunity  to  the  Home  or  State  work,  and 
make  a  powerful  appeal  in  behalf  of  it ;  and  brethren 
would  be  so  pleased  with  his  generous  spirit  and  won 
by  his  true  eloquence,  that  when  the  hour  cam-e  for 
Foreign  Missions,  they  gave  larger  contributions  than 
usual.  We  ought  all  to  perceive  that  the  very  genius 
of  Christianity  is  unselfishness  ;  and  that  in  any  ap- 
parent conflict  of  really  Christian  enterprises,  the  unsel- 
fish course  is  supported  by  the  whole  logic  of  the  situa- 
tion and  will  command  all  the  noblest  sympathies. 

Dr.  Poindexter  was  at  t4iis  period  deeply  interested 
in  the  plan  of  establishing  a  General  Theological  Sem- 
inary for  Southern  Baptists.  This  had  been  often 
thought  of  during  previous  years,  but  had  never  proven 
practicable.  At  the  Virginia  June  meetings  in  1854 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  suggest  to  the  brethren 
attending  the  next  Southern  Baptist  Convention  the 
propriety  of  renewed  efforts  to  secure  a  common 
Theoloo-ical  School  for  the  South.  To  this  statement 
Dr.  Boyce  adds :  '^  A  meeting  was  therefore  held 
May,  1855,  in  a  small  room  connected  with  the  house 
of  worship  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Montgom- 
ery, attended  by  not  more  than  twenty-five  persons.'' 


406  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

Among  the  most  zealous  and  influential  of  these  was 
Poindexter.  A  special  convention  was  next  held  in 
Augusta,  May,  1856,  which  appointed  a  committee  to 
receive  propositions  from  different  localities  for  the  en- 
dowment of  such  an  institution.  In  August  of  that 
year  Professor  James  P.  Boyce,  of  Furman  University, 
delivered  at  Greenville,  S.  C,  an  inaugural  address,  en- 
titled "Three  Changes  in  Theological  Institutions," 
which  Dr.  Poindexter  heard  with  hearty  approval  and 
admiration,  and  which,  when  printed,  he  took  much  in- 
terest in  circulating.  The  new  and  wise  ideas  of  that 
address  were  laid  at  the  foundation  of  the  seminary 
soon  actually  established.  Another  special  Educational 
Convention  was  held  at  Louisville,  in  1857,  in  connec- 
tion with,  though  organically  distinct  from,  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention.  This  Educational  Convention, 
which  was  largely  attended,  decided  to  accept  the  offer 
brought  by  Professor  Boyce  from  South  Carolina,  for 
locating  the  proposed  General  Seminary  at  Greenville, 
in  that  State.  In  these  deliberations  Dr.  Poindexter 
took  an  eminently  earnest  and  useful  part,  along  w^ith 
such  revered  and  now  departed  fathers  as  Howell,  the 
elder  Manly,  Jeter  and  others.  In  the  final  Conven- 
tion which  met  at  Greenville  in  1858,  to  organize  and 
establish  the  seminary.  Dr.  Poindexter  was  one  of  the 
leading  spirits.  Especially  was  he  solicitous  that  tlie 
Articles  of  Belief  which  were  appointed  to  be  subscribed 
by  the  seminary  professors,  with  the  promise  that  they 
will  teach  in  accordance  with,  and  not  contrary  to  them, 
should  correctly  and  strongly  state  the  established  faith 
of  the  Baptist  Churches.     He  could  not  become  gene- 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER  407 

ral  agent  of  the  seminary,  as  was  earnestly  desired,  for 
the  Foreign  Mission  Board  declined  to  give  him  up  ; 
but  the  seminary  continued  to  receive  his  hjving  and 
devoted  support  through  life  and  feels  his  impress  to 
this  day. 

Early  in  his  term  of  service  as  Foreign  Mission  Sec- 
retary, Dr.  Poindexter  removed  his  residence  from  the 
plantation  in  Halifax  to  the  city  of  Richmond,  and 
there  remained  till  the  early  part  of  the  war.  Besides 
enabling  him  to  be  more  at  home,  this  gave  better  op- 
portunity for  the  education  of  his  children.  Dr.  George 
B.  Taylor  remarks  that  Poindexter  was  a  lover  of  hos- 
pitality. Surrounded  by  the  spacious  and  eminently 
hospitable  homes  of  the  Thomases  and  the  Worthams, 
he  had  less  occasion  for  this  than  would  otherv^ase  have 
been  the  case,  but  many  of  us  remember  the  privilege 
of  being  his  guests,  and  the  unaffectedly  hearty  recep- 
tion given  by  him  and  his  household.  In  like  manner 
do  many  of  us  remember  the  great  pleasure  of  having 
him  as  a  guest  in  our  own  homes.  His  deafness  made 
it  natural  for  him  to  take  the  lead  in  conversation.  Yet 
he  never  did  this  in  the  way  of  monologue,  like  Doctor 
Johnson  or  Coleridge,  but  introduced  every  new  topic 
in  the  form  of  a  question,  desiring  to  compare  views, 
and  greatly  delighting  in  conversational  discussion. 
Many  a  young  minister  of  that  day  can  recall  the  whole- 
some thrill  of  excitement  produced  by  measuring  swords 
in  debate  with  this  knightly  and  doughty  comrade.  The 
young  man  might  feel  himself  hopelessly  inferior,  and 
be  tempted  to  yield  the  point  at  the  outset ;  but  Poin- 
dexter wanted  nothing  of  that  sort,  and  would  redouble 


408  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

his  questions  with  such  kindly  persistency  and  unfeigned 
good  fellowship  as  would  constrain  the  man  to  argue, 
and  often  arouse  in  him  a  lively  spirit  of  debate  and  a 
heightened  love  of  truth.  Dr.  Pritchard  mentions  an 
instance,  which  Poindexter  must  have  exquisitely  en- 
joyed :  "  In  1855  I  spent  several  days  at  his  home  in 
Halifax,  when  A.  B.  Brown  was  there.  They  were 
kindred  spirits,  and  kept  up  a  discussion  of  some  of  the 
most  abstruse  and  difficult  questions  of  theology  and 
metaphysics  during  the  whole  time.  It  was  a  battle  of 
Titans,  and  I  remember  how  it  fairly  made  my  poor 
head  ache  to  try  to  keep  up  with  their  discussions — cer- 
tainly the  most  intellectual  I  ever  listened  to.''  Dr. 
Manly  recalls  a  similar  experience,  when  Poindexter, 
Brown  and  himself,  cut  oif  by  torrents  of  rain  from 
going  to  an  Association,  spent  a  day  at  the  house  of 
Brother  Bird  L.  Ferrell,  in  Southern  Virginia.  He 
says  that  Poindexter  and  Brown  fairly  revelled  in  the 
joy  of  debate.  There  was  a  trundle-bed  in  the  room 
they  occupied,  and  the  two  w^ould  just  roll  on  the  bed 
like  school-boys,  and  discuss  every  question  on  which 
they  had  ever  differed,  fighting  with  fierce  glee  along 
every  ramification  of  each  succeeding  topic.  Now  and 
then  they  would  turn  eagerly  to  Manly  that  he  might 
act  as  arbiter  of  some  dispute,  while  the  kindly  host 
looked  on  and  listened  by  the  hour  with  immense 
amusement. 

In  1856  Dr.  Poindexter  published  in  the  Herald  an 
excellent  funeral  sermon  on  "  The  Future  State  of  the 
Righteous/'  In  July,  1856,  the  Foreign  Mission  Board 
began  publishing  a  monthly  missionary  magazine  called 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  409 

The  Commission,  which  lasted  four  years,  until  stopped 
by  the  war,  and  was  a  publication  of  great  interest  and 
value.  This  was  cliiefly  under  Dr.  Poindexter's  edito- 
rial management,  though  sometimes,  in  his  absence,  an 
entire  number  was  edited  by  Dr.  Taylor.  The  four 
volumes  of  this  periodical  contain  many  practical  arti- 
cles from  Poindexter's  pen  upon  missionary  topics,  with 
several  impassioned  appeals,  that  remind  one  of  his 
great  oral  appeals.  There  are  careful  discussions  to 
vindicate  the  scriptural  propriety  of  Foreign  Mission 
Boards  and  other  machinery.  In  two  elaborate  papers 
on  "  The  Lord's  Day — a  Neglected  Ordinance,"  he 
urges  that  apostolical  example  shows  it  to  be  the  duty  of 
every  church  to  meet  every  Lord's  Day  for  united  wor- 
ship and  mutual  edification,  and  strikingly  connects  this 
view  with  the  Sunday-school  work.  Another  article 
insists  on  the  duty  of  personally  reading  the  Bible  ev- 
ery day,  and  frequently  conversing  with  others  about  its 
teachings.  In  the  number  for  December,  1859,  he  de- 
scribes the  desirable  qualifications  for  Foreign  Mission- 
ary work — such  as  a  good  constitution,  without  any  ten- 
dency to  nervous  depression,  an  ingenuous  and  confiding 
disposition  (necessary  to  co-operation  with  other  mis- 
sionaries and  with  the  Board),  and  yet  great  decision 
of  character,  a  w^ell-trained  mind  and  an  acquaintance 
with  the  laws  of  Biblical  interpretation,  and  with  the 
system  of  doctrine  and  polity  taught  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  earnest,  self-denying,  self-sacrificing  piety. 
He  especially  advises  young  men  who  contemplate  For- 
eign Mission  work  to  take  a  theological  course,  because 
a  missionary  will  be  so  largely  thrown  upon  his  own  re- 


410  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.   POINDEXTER. 

sources,  and  because  he  will  be  doing  foundation  work, 
in  which  his  errors  will  perpetuate  themselves,  with  no 
counteracting  influences.  During  1860  there  are  elab- 
orate and  valuable  articles  on  Faith  and  Repentance. 

Through  the  blended  and  powerful  influence  of  Sec- 
retaries Taylor  and  Poindexter,  and  the  rapid  growth 
of  intelligence  and  diffusion  of  missionary  knowledge 
among  ministers  and  churches,  the  Foreign  Mission 
work  of  Southern  Baptists  was  by  1860  coming  into  a 
very  healthy  and  promising  condition,  though  only  on 
the  threshold  of  what  was  manifestly  possible.  Some 
wealthy  individuals  and  some  well-trained  churches 
w^ere  beginning  to  give  really  considerable  amounts; 
the  Board  was  amply  supplied  with  funds,  and  calling 
loudly  for  additional  missionaries.  Several  of  our  most 
gifted  and  thoroughly  trained  young  brethren  about  that 
time  openly  devoted  themselves  to  the  Foreign  Mission 
w^ork.     The  skies  seemed  bright  and  brightening. 

And  then  came — the  w^ar.  Very  soon  we  were  cut  off 
from  communication  with  our  missionaries  in  foreign 
fields,  and  it  became  impossible  to  expect  systematic 
contributions  from  churches  in  which  all  financial  ar- 
rangements were  uncertain,  and  the  enormous  expenses 
and  unmeasured  losses  of  the  war  were  multiplying 
year  by  year.  In  the  early  summer  of  1861,  before  the 
first  battle  of  Manassas,  the  Poindexters  returned  from 
Richmond  to  their  home  in  Halifax,  and  for  the  years 
of  the  war  we  hear  very  little  of  the  family,  save  in 
the  pathetic  and  mournful  way  that  is  common  to  so 
many  family  recollections  of  that  dark  and  awful  time. 
The  marriajxe  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Poindexter  had  been 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.   POINDEXTER.  411 

blessed  with  a  daughter  and  two  sons.  Both  the  sons 
were  killed  during  the  war.  The  younger,  William 
Jordan  Poindexter,  an  impulsive  and  ardent  youth  of 
seventeen,  volunteered  at  the  beginning  in  a  com})any  of 
dragoons.  There  remains  one  letter  to  him  from  his 
mother,  written  in  July.  In  November  he  rode  out 
one  morning  to  relieve  picket-guard,  and  dismounting, 
took  his  pistol  from  the  holster  and  put  it  in  his  bosom. 
Soon  after,  stooping  to  gather  some  fodder  for  his  horse, 
his  pistol  fell  and  went  off,  the  ball  entering  his  fore- 
head. He  lingered  some  time,  and  for  the  most  part 
was  rational.  The  afflicted  father  ends  the  brief  notice 
in  the  family  register  by  saying :  "  We  have  hope  that 
he  was  prepared  for  death."  The  older  son,  Abram 
Wimbish  Poindexter,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  volun- 
teered before  his  brother's  death  in  an  infantry  company 
which  he  materially  assisted  in  raising,  and  was  elected 
first  lieutenant.  Afterwards,  by  the  death  of  Captain 
Easley,  he  became  captain ;  it  was  Company  K,  Forty- 
sixth  Virginia.  The  young  man  had  made  a  public 
profession  of  religion  the  previous  year,  was  a  graduate 
of  W^ake  Forest  College,  and  principal  of  Talladega 
Academy  in  Alabama.  As  teacher  and  as  officer  he  showed 
superior  talents,  and  great  force  and  charm  of  character. 
He  was  exceedingly  beloved  by  his  men ;  some  were 
converted  through  his  recognized  instrumentality,  and 
his  letters,  for  months  previous  to  his  death,  showed 
deep  and  growing  devotion.  Obituaries  which  remain 
from  different  friends  present  discriminating  and  exalted 
eulogy.  What  a  joy  he  must  have  been  to  father  and 
mother  and  sister  !     Before  Petersburg,  July  30,  1864, 


412  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.   POINDEXTER. 

the  enemy  exploded  their  now  famous  mine,  and  poured 
through  the  great  gap  in  the  Avorks,  enfilading  with 
deadly  fire  the  thin  Confederate  lines  on  either  side. 
Captain  Poindexter's  company  was  especially  exposed, 
and  stood  its  ground  amid  heavy  losses.  Every  officer 
but  himself  was  borne  away  severely  wounded.  Ad- 
dressing the  little  remnant  of  his  company,  the  young 
captain  said  :  ^'  Boys,  we  must  hold  this  position,  or  die 
in  our  places,  for  the  salvation  of  the  town  depends  up- 
on the  enemy's  not  carrying  these  works.''  Presently 
an  officer  rode  by,  and  seeing  the  little  handful  of  a 
company  standing  firm,  he  asked  who  was  their  com- 
mander. They  replied,  pointing  to  a  dead  body, 
"  There's  our  captain  ;  he  told  us  we  must  hold  these 
works,  or  die  in  their  defense,  and  we  mean  to  do  it." 
And  they  did.  Without  an  officer,  the  little  fragment 
of  a  company  obeyed  their  dead  captain's  command,  and 
stood  firm  before  the  enfilading  fire  and  the  rush  of  the 
foe.  The  story  was  told  to  Dr.  Poindexter  by  one  ol 
the  men.     Truly  that  vv^as  a  captain  !  truly  those  were 


men 


The  only  written  production  of  Dr.  Poindexter's  that 
remains  from  those  trying  years  is  a  manuscript  sermon 
''  On  the  Kingdom  of  Peace."  It  was  written  after  the 
death  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  May  '63,  for  that  event  is 
mentioned,  and  apparently  before  the  death  of  Captain 
Abram  Poindexter,  in  July,  18G4.  Taking  as  text  the 
inspiring  passage  in  Micah  and  Isaiah  which  predicts 
that  all  nations  shall  flow  together  to  the  mountain  of 
the  Lord's  house,  and  beat  their  swords  into  plough- 
shares, etc.,  he  makes  one  of  the  most  impressive  sermons 


MEMORIAL  OF  A.   M.   POINDEXTER.  413 

that  remain  from  him  in  print  or  in  manuscript.  The 
opening  sentence  is  this  :  "  Now,  while  on  every  side  is 
heard  the  roar  of  cannon,  and  our  borders  are  deluged 
with  blood,  it  is  well  to  turn  away  from  the  violence  and 
contention  of  earthly  powers,  and  contemj^late  the  pro- 
gress and  triumph  of  the  Prince  of  Peace."  It  was  a 
topic  well-suited  to  comfort  and  cheer  believing  souls 
amid  all  the  fierce  outbursts  of  human  passion,  and  the 
terrible  conflict  and  frightful  losses  of  war ;  and  the 
preacher  kindles  as  he  depicts  under  the  guidance  of 
Scripture  the  future  triumph  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
peaceful  reign  of  Christ. 

We  come  now  to  the  closing  period  of  Dr.  Poindex- 
ter's  life,  from  the  end  of  the  war,  in  1865,  to  his  death, 
in  1872.  We  might  easily  describe  life  on  that  Halifax 
plantation  for  the  year  following  the  war,  for  the  same 
thing  was  witnessed  all  over  the  wide  Southern  land. 
Our  people,  especially  in  the  great  planting  regions, 
moved  about  as  amid  the  wreck  of  a  universal  earthquake, 
considering  whether  it  was  possible  to  rebuild  their  pros- 
trate fortunes,  and  ever  live  on  earth  again  in  comfort 
and  happiness.  Ten  thousand  families  which  had  dwelt 
long  in  affluence  and  culture,  in  the  gratification  of  all 
refined  tastes,  were  reduced  to  struggling  and  painful 
poverty.  How  the  Southern  people  did  manage  to  pick 
themselves  up  and  stand  on  their  feet  at  all  after  that 
great  earthquake,  remains  a  wonder  unto  this  day. 

In  December,  1865,  the  family  had  experience  of  the 
brightness  with  which  youth  and  love  know  how  to  gild 
the  darkest  days.  Dr.  Poindexter's  only  daughter, 
Fanny,  was  married,  December  13th,  to  Rev.  James  B. 


414  MEMORIAL   OF   A.   M.    POINDEXTER. 

Taylor,  Junior.  The  previous  relations  of  the  fathers 
and  the  families,  and  the  personal  character  of  all  con- 
cerned, must  have  made  this  marriage  an  occasion  of 
great  joy.  But  before  the  end  of  the  same  month,  De- 
cember 30th,  after  the  fashion  in  which  sorrow  so  often 
dogs  the  lightest  footsteps  of  joy,  there  came  a  sad  bereave- 
ment. The  two  sons  of  Mrs.  Poindexter's  first  marriage 
had  both  been  men  of  distinction  and  usefulness.  Both 
were  physicians  with  good  estates,  both  highly  esteemed 
by  their  fellow-citizens,  and  the  elder  honored  with  a  seat 
in  the  Legislature ;  and  best  of  all,  they  were  earnest 
and  useful  Christians.  But  at  the  time  we  have  men- 
tioned the  elder  son,  Dr.  Cliarles  J.  Craddock,  died,  to 
the  great  grief  of  his  parents  as  well  as  his  wife  and 
children.  His  daughters  are  now  the  wives  of  Dr.  A. 
E.  Dickinson  and  Judge  W.  E,.  Barksdale.  Mrs.  Poin- 
dexter^s  other  son  of  her  first  marriage,  Dr.  John  W. 
Craddock,  lived  until  1885,  and  left  an  interesting  fam- 
ily.    Plis  two  sisters  also  have  both  passed  away. 

In  May,  1866,  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  at 
Russellville,  Ky.,  advised  the  Foreign  Mission  Board 
to  re-engage  Dr.  Poindexter  as  assistant  secretary.  The 
Board  made  the  appointment ;  but  it  w^as  declined,  be- 
cause a  few  weeks  later,  at  the  June  meetings,  he  was 
asked  to  become  agent  a  second  time  for  Richmond  Col- 
lege. This  second  agency  continued  from  June,  1866, 
to  June,  1870.  The  college  had  lost  great  part  of  its 
endowment  by  the  war.  Like  many  others  of  our 
struggling  Southern  institutions,  it  had  to  face  the  ques- 
tion of  life  or  death.  There  is  nothing  nobler  in  Amer- 
ican history  than  the  spirit  with  which  our  Southern 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  415 

people  stood  up  amid  the  wreck  of  their  fortunes,  and 
declared  that  their  institutions  of  higher  education 
should  not  perish.  The  history  will  never  be  adequately 
told  of  the  sacrifices  and  overburdened  toils  by  which 
professors  in  those  institutions  kept  them  in  operation, 
and  in  many  cases  have  gradually  built  them  up  into 
something  of  strength.  But  even  more  remarkable  sac- 
rifices were  made  by  many  contributors  for  endowment 
or  for  current  support.  Men  with  nothing  left  of  former 
wealth  but  poor  land  and  plenty  of  debts,  numerous 
ministers  and  others  who  Avere  living  by  the  hardest 
upon  some  inadequate  and  sadly  uncertain  income,  gave 
what  they  could  not  spare,  gave  not  grudgingly,  but 
with  high  enthusiasm,  gave  without  the  personal  inter- 
est naturally  felt  by  instructors  themselves,  and  for  pure 
love  of  education,  love  of  country,  love  of  Christ.  The 
Board  undertook  to  raise  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  the  endowment  of  Richmond  College,  and  this  was 
the  object  of  Dr.  Poindexter's  agency.  He  had  a  great 
reputation  in  this  species  of  work,  and  he  bore  w^ell  the 
competition  with  a  famous  man's  worst  rival,  the  glori- 
fied recollection  of  his  own  past  achievements.  He  was 
in  hearty  sympathy  Avith  those  elevated  and  enthusiastic 
feelings  by  which  the  nobler  part  of  the  people  Avere 
stirred.  The  memory  of  his  great  speeches  during  this 
canvass  of  Virginia  Avill  be  handed  down  from  father 
to  son.  Nor  did  he  dream  of  contenting  himself  with 
public  argument  and  appeal.  He  sought  men  at  their 
homes.  He  could  not  be  escaped  nor  repelled,  and 
Avhile  com'teous,  it  was  passing  hard  to  shake  him  off. 
The  story  has  been  lately  told  in  the  Herald  of  his  fol- 


416  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

lowing  some  brother  to  the  field  he  was  harrowing. 
The  brother  protested  he  could  not  give,  and  had  not 
time  to  listen  to  any  representations,  for  he  must  go  on 
harrowing.  What  should  the  great  orator  do  but  take 
a  seat  on  the  harroAV,  where  his  weight  would  make  the 
teeth  strike  deeper  into  the  soil,  and  talk  Richmond 
College  to  the  farmer  as  he  drove.  Did  he  get  a  con- 
tribution at  last  ?  Probably  not ;  ■  in  fact,  it  would  spoil 
the  story  if  he  had.  The  story  reveals  his  persistency, 
and  also  that  hearty  sense  of  humor  which  belongs  to 
the  character  of  almost  every  man  who  does  much  of 
the  world's  highest  and  hardest  work.  He  had  many 
odd  experiences  in  these  appeals  to  individuals.  A  gen- 
tleman somewhere,  who  had  retained  more  than  usual  of 
his  former  wealth,  and  was  naturally  minded  to  retain 
it  still,  tried  to  put  off  the  agent  with  a  small  contribu- 
tion. The  characteristic  answer  was, — "  Pray,  don^t  give 
me  that;  such  a  contribution  from  you  would  damage 
the  cause.  Give  nothing  at  all,  or  else  more  than  that.'' 
Then  launching  into  a  vehement  appeal,  he  solemnly 
said :  "  My  dear  brother,  we  have  thirty-one  young  men 
now  studying  in  the  College  for  the  ministry.'^  "  What, 
Dr.  Poindexter,  you  ain't  going  to  turn  all  of  them 
loose  on  us,  are  you  ?"  He  evidently  thought  they  were 
all  to  be  trained  for  agents,  and  of  the  Poindexter  var- 
iety. Either  during  this  or  his  former  agency  for  Rich- 
mond College  occurred  an  instance,  as  narrated  by  Rev. 
A.  Bagby,  of  his  unconquerable  resolution.  "■  One  day, 
travelling  in  a  buggy,  we  reached  a  stream  of  water 
much  swollen  by  late  rains.  As  we  came  up,  he  said  : 
^Can  we  cross?'     I  answered,  that  I  did  not  know  the 


MEMOr.IAL   OF   A.    M.    POIXDEXTER.  417 

creek  well  enough  to  say.  ^  Well/  said  he,  ^  I'll  soon 
find  out.'  Instantcr  we  alighted  and  unhitched,  when 
he  sprang  upon  the  harnessed  horse,  plunged  through  to 
the  opposite  bank,  and,  speedily  returning,  reported  that 
the  buggy  could  not  be  taken  through ;  the  current  was 
too  strong.  We  headed  the  stream,  and  gained  our 
point  before  twilight.'' 

It  is  probable  that  he  did  not  secure  subscriptions  to 
the  full  amount  which  had  been  proposed.  In  resign- 
ing, June,  1870,  though  asked  by  the  Board  to  con- 
tinue, he  gave  as  his  reason,  ^4he  present  difficulties  of 
collecting  funds  on  account  of  the  depressed  condition  of 
the  country."  In  fact,  the  people  of  Virginia  were  far 
less  hopeful  then  than  during  the  first  year  after  the 
war.  Many  vague  hopes  fondly  cherished  at  first  in 
regard  to  possible  recovery  of  fortune  had  been  sadly 
disappointed.  The  process  of  political  reconstruction 
was  here  peculiarly  slow,  and  old  indebtedness  hung 
like  a  mill-stone  around  the  necks  of  the  people.  Dr. 
Poindexter's  success,  under  all  the  circumstances,  was 
very  great.  His  work,  and  the  admirable  teaching  done 
by  able  and  devoted  professors,  have  made  the  college  a 
permanency  and  a  power.  Those  who  wish  to  invest 
money  for  the  highest  good  of  humanity  may  be  confi- 
dent of  building  there  upon  enduring  foundations. 

During  this  period  occurred  a  somewhat  celebrated 
Conference  between  the  Baptists  and  the  Disciples  of 
Virginia,  to  consider  the  possibility  of  union.  Dr. 
George  B.  Taylor  says  :  "  I  never  saw  him  appear  to  so 
great  an  advantage  as  at  this  Conference.  Undoubtedly 
he  was  the  ruling  spirit  of  the  body  and  his  speeches 
27 


418  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

were  masterly.  While  the  ablest  and  most  effective 
defender  of  distinctively  Baptist  principles,  he  almost 
provoked  some  of  our  brethren  engaged  in  the  discus- 
sion, by  seeming  at  times  well-nigh  to  go  over  to  the 
other  side,  though  he  was  really  only  recognizing  and 
stating  with  clear-cut  precision  the  truth  which  he  ad- 
mitted to  be  held  by  the  Disciples/^  We  have  already 
observed  that  it  was  characteristic  of  Poindexter  to  state 
fully  and  strongly  the  opposing  side  of  a  disputed  ques- 
tion. And  sometimes  he  could  reconcile  parties  much 
at  variance  by  simply  stating  each  side  in  its  full  force, 
80  that  they  could  see  ground  for  respecting  each  other's 
positions  and  agreeing  to  disagree  without  strife.  Dr. 
B.  Manly  remembers  being  with  him  at  an  Association, 
where  a  bitter  division  existed  as  to  Temperance.  Dr. 
Poindexter  got  the  floor,  stated  the  position  of  each  side 
better  than  they  could  have  done  themselves,  and  then 
suggested  action  which  satisfied  all,  and  tended  to  far 
better  results  than  any  one-sided  action  could  have  pro- 
duced. There  was  here  no  rhetorical  trickery  and  no  half- 
way position,  but  the  power  to  combine  antagonizing 
views  and  blend  them  in  a  higher  unity,  which  is  one  ot 
the  noblest  achievements  of  true  philosophical  think- 
ing. 

Dr.  Manly  remembers  another  Association,  when,  in  a 
sermon,  Poindexter  assailed  the  inconsistencies  of  pro- 
fessing Christians,  without  allowing  a  single  exception, 
in  so  fierce  and  trenchant  a  fashion  as  to  arouse  indigna- 
tion. Perceiving  signs  of  this,  he  repeated  his  accusa- 
tions with  redoubled  strength,  with  terrific  denunciation, 
till  nearly  all  present   seemed  positively  furious  with 


M e:\iorial  of  a.  m.  poindexter.  419 

anger  at  such  unjust  censure  of  tlicir  fellow-Christians, 
if  not  of  themselves.  Then  he  turned  to  speak  of  the 
mercy  and  grace  of  the  gospel,  the  hope  of  forgiveness, 
and  of  deliverance  from  all  sin  and  eternal  safety  from 
sinning,  till  the  whole  assembly  was  melted  into  loving 
tears.  Such  extraordinary  feats  must  never  be  imitated 
by  others,  though  they  may  be  studied  as  revealing  the 
principles  of  persuasion.  And  they  cannot  be  safely 
repeated  at  will  by  the  speaker  himself.  Let  him  once 
attempt  to  work  himself  up  by  calculated  effort  to  such 
lofty  passion,  though  it  be  with  the  best  motives,  with  a 
sincere  desire  to  do  good  thereby,  and  the  result  will  be 
perhaps  apparent  success,  but  real  failure,  and  with  a  very 
grievous  reaction  upon  the  genuineness  of  his  own  relig- 
ious emotions.  Public  speakers  of  every  kind,  who 
frequently  set  fire  to  their  audience,  and  at  length  be- 
come aware  that  they  are  expected  to  do  so,  must  beware 
of  trying  to  meet  this  expectation  with  the  product  of 
manufacture  rather  than  of  natural  growth.  It  has 
been  thought,  by  some  judicious  and  most  friendly  ob- 
servers, that  Dr.  Poindexter  sometimes  made  this  mis- 
take of  working  himself  up  into  passion.  If  so,  it  was 
one  of  those  casual  errors  of  judgment  in  a  great  and 
good  man,  which  we  must  recognize  with  reverence  and 
study  with  humility. 

A  year  after  this  last  agency  for  Richmond  College 
began,  viz. :  September  14,  18G7,  Mrs.  Poindexter  died. 
The  loss  of  husband  or  wife  is  the  greatest  of  all  be- 
reavements, which  seems  to  darken  the  whole  horizon  of 
the  survivor's  life.  Dr.  Poindexter's  sensitive  and  pas- 
sionate nature  found  this  great  loss  almost  intolerable. 


420  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POIXDEXTER. 

For  thirty  years  he  had  rested  in  her,  finding  the  sym- 
pathy and  solace  which  such  a  nature  must  have,  or  the 
burdens  of  hfe  cannot  be  borne.  Their  religious  senti- 
ments had  been  much  alike.  They  had  grown  assimi- 
lated by  common  joys  and  sorrows.  In  his  long  ab- 
sences she  had  wisely  managed  the  household  and  the 
estate.  Together  they  had  borne  the  loss  of  property, 
toarether  the  death  of  their  soldier  boys.  How  could 
he  exist  alone  ?  It  is  said  that  he  was  thrown  into 
literal  convulsions.  But  soon  the  fervent  Christian's 
habitual  submission  returned,  and  the  mighty  will  re- 
gained control  over  the  storm  of  passionate  emotion. 
Shortly  after  her  death  Dr.  Poindexter  made  his  home 
with  his  son-in-law,  Eev.  J.  B.  Taylor,  Jr.,  at  Culpeper. 
After  two  or  three  years  he  gave  up  the  agency  in  June, 
1870,  and  doubtless  expected  much  pleasure  in  the  home 
of  his  daughter  and  his  grandchildren,  where  he  might 
carry  out  the  cherished  desire  to  write  down  the  products 
of  life-long  thinking  in  philosophy  and  theology.  But 
again  came  speedy  sorrow.  On  the  7th  of  November, 
1870,  that  singularly  noble  and  lovely  woman,  Mrs. 
Fanny  Poindexter  Taylor,  was  taken  away  by  death. 
Her  fine  intellect  could  enjoy  the  profound  discussions  so 
often  held  in  her  presence,  while  her  vivacity  and  ever 
kindly  wit  gave  a  great  charm  to  general  conversation. 
Her  delight  in  learning  and  teaching  Christian  truth, 
her  unselfish  generosity,  delicate  consideration  for  others 
and  eager  desire  to  be  useful,  were  lovingly  portrayed  in 
obituaries  that  remain,  and  her  memory  is  precious  still 
in  the  beautiful  village  where  she  lived  and  died  as  a, 
pastor's    wife.      Her    two    sons,    Abram    Poindexter 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  421 

Taylor  and  James  Boyce  Taylor,  now  the  only  desccnd- 
auts  of  A.  M.  Poindexter,  have  a  heritage  that  ought  to 
awaken  in  them  all  worthy  aspirations. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1870  and  the  beginning  of  1871 
Dr.  Poindexter  spent  some  time  in  helping  the  Foreign 
Mission  work,  both  at  the  rooms  and  by  travelling.  On 
June  27,  1871,  he  formed  a  second  marriage  with  Miss 
Marcia  P.  Scott,  of  Orange  County,  Va.,  an  esteemed 
lady  who  still  survives.  Dr.  Jeter  says :  "  All  his 
friends  congratulated  him  on  the  prospect  of  a  calm, 
pleasant  and  useful  close  of  his  life.'^  His  home  was 
henceforth  on  her  farm,  a  few  miles  from  Gordonsville. 
Happy  in  new  ties  and  surroundings,  he  addressed  him- 
self vigorously  to  the  preparation  of  essays  and  treatises 
for  publication.  Many  elaborate  articles  and  several 
extended  series  of  articles  appeared  in  the  Religious 
Heraldy  his  pen  being  far  more  active  during  the  last 
year  of  his  life  than  ever  before.  "  He  also  accepted 
the  pastoral  care  of  the  churches  at  Louisa  C.  H.  and 
Low^er  Goldmine,  each  about  fifteen  miles  from  his  home. 
They  had  been  accustomed  to  meet  only  once  a  month 
and  objected  seriously  to  more  frequent  meetings,  espe- 
ciallv  at  the  Court-House,  where  lono;  usao-e  had  allotted 
the  Sundays  to  the  different  denominations.  But  he  in- 
sisted on  preaching  twice  a  month  at  each  place  and 
doing  much  pastoral  work  besides.  His  ministry  drew 
large  congregations,  both  churches  gained  somewhat  in 
numbers  and  immensely  in  efficiency,  and  still  cherish 
the  memory  of  his  brief  pastorate  as  one  of  the  most 
useful  in  all  their  history.'^  *  In  October  and  November 
"Dr.H.H.  Harris. 


422  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.   POINDEXTER. 

he  delivered  before  the  young  men  at  Louisa  C.  H. 
three  lectures,  which  were  written  out  and  are  still  pre- 
served, entitled  "Pleasure/'  "Conscience/'  and  "An 
Old  Acquaintance/' 

Somewhat  earlier  he  had  published  an  article  on  "  Valid 
Baptism/'  especially  on  the  question  of  immersions  per- 
formed by  Pedobaptist  or  Campbellite  ministers,  which 
he  did  not  think  a  Baptist  church  ought  to  accept  as  satis- 
factory. This  probably  suggested  a  series  on  "  The  Or- 
ganization of  the  Primitive  Churches."  The  principal 
topics  are  (1)  The  meaning  of  ecclesia;  (2)  The  mem- 
bership ;  (3)  The  ordinances ;  (4)  The  officers ;  (5)  The 
government;  (6)  The  objects  of  the  Churches.  He 
added  discussions  as  to  the  administrator  of  baptism,  a 
call  to  the  ministry,  ordination,  and  Pedobaptist  Churches. 
He  holds  that  "it  cannot  be  certainly  proved  that  the  ad- 
ministration of  baptism  is  an  official  function.  But  there 
are  considerations  which  render  it  probable  that  it  was 
thus  regarded."  And  he  concludes,  "I  incline  to  think 
the  common  opinion  of  the  official  relation  of  the  act 
more  probable,  and  certainly  not  contrary  to  any  explicit 
scripture,  and  conducive  to  good  order  and  a  just  guard- 
ing of  the  ordinance."  As  to  evangelical  Pedobaptist 
churches,  he  holds  that  we  cannot  properly  recognize 
them  as  scriptural  churches ;  but  that  we  should  gladly 
recognize  the  Christian  character  of  all  those  in  whom 
we  see  evidences  of  true  piety,  and  that  while  protesting 
against  what  we  regard  as  their  erroneous  teachings  and 
practices.  Scriptural  churches  and  their  members  are 
bound  to  regard  and  treat  evangelical  Pedobaptist 
churches  as  helpers  in  the  work  of  Christ — the  salvation 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  423 

of  souls.  The  closing  paragraph  on  this  point  is  as  fol- 
lows:  "While,  then,  I  conclude  that  there  is  nothing 
inconsistent  or  wrong  in  the  occasional  interchange  of 
public  labors  with  Pedobaptist  ministers,  yet  it  is  my 
conviction  that  it  is  not  expedient  that  such  interchange 
be  carried  to  any  great  extent." 

He  also  published  articles  on  the  following  metaphys- 
ical and  theological  topics  :  Cause  and  Effect,  Uncaused 
Being,  Creation,  The  Creator  and  Sovereign,  Revelation, 
Miracles  (three  articles,  including  one  on  Miracles  of 
Jesus  and  his  Disciples),  The  Law  of  Progress  in  its 
Application  to  Theology,  Conscience — this  last  appearing 
only  a  week  or  two  before  his  death.  The  slips  from  the 
Herald  which  contain  the  above  essays  are  followed  in 
his  Index  Rerum  by  two  similar  essays  in  manuscript  on 
The  Creation  of  Man  and  The  Fall  of  Man.  These 
various  essays  present  no  novel  teachings  on  the  great 
topics  involved, — a  thing  neither  to  be  expected  nor  de- 
sired,— but  they  give  the  results  of  his  lifetime  thinking 
upon  fundamental  topics  with  clearness  and  vigor.  They 
would  not  be  widely  read  as  newspaper  articles,  nor 
widely  circulated  in  a  volume,  but  they  would  be  of  real 
value  to  young  ministers. 

It  was  apparently  at  the  same  period  that  he  began 
'^  The  History  of  Jesus,"  which  he  carried  as  far  as  the 
beginning  of  our  Lord's  ministry.  Dr.  Brown  states  in 
one  of  his  addresses  that  Poindexter  had  outlined  and 
partly  written  a  work  on  Systematic  Theology,  exhibiting 
"great  originality  of  thought  and  great  excellence  of 
style."  Dr.  Brown  hopes  that  this  fragment  may  be 
published ;  but  it  is  not  now  to  be  found  in  the  collection 


424  MEMORIAL   OF  A.   M.    POINDEXTER. 

of  manuscripts.  There  remains  a  sermon  written  in  full, 
and  dated  March  20,  1872,  on  The  Importance  of  Kegu- 
lar  Attendance  on  Public  Worship. 

Some  controversy  in  the  Herald  with  Dr.  Caswell  about 
Communion  seems  to  have  been  the  special  occasion  of 
Poindexter^s  preparing  a  treatise  on  "  The  Lord^s  Supper.'^ 
This  is  complete,  and  he  was  endeavoring  to  arrange 
for  its  publication.  A  letter  from  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry, 
after  reading  the  manuscript,  is  dated  30th  April,  1872, 
just  a  week  before  Poindexter's  death.  Dr.  Curry  says, 
"  The  argument,  to  my  mind,  is  compact,  lucid  and  un- 
answerable. Many  of  the  positions  are  of  course  familiar, 
but  they  are  often  presented  in  a  striking  light."  After 
some  slight  criticisms,  he  adds,  "  As  a  treatise  on  the 
general  subject,  I  know  nothing  cl carer.''  It  may  be 
well  to  give  an  analysis  of  this  treatise :  Chapter  I.  The 
nature  of  the  rite.  (1)  The  Supper,  a  positive  Christian 
Institute.  (2)  The  Supper  a  permanent  Institute.  (3) 
.The  Supper  a  social  Institute,  and  as  such  a  church  ordi- 
nance. Chapter  II.  The  design  of  the  Supper.  (1)  It 
is  intended  to  commemorate  Christ's  death.  (2)  It  is 
a  symbol  of  the  sacrificial  nature  of  Christ's  death. 
Chapter  III.  Who  may  partake  of  the  Supper.  (1) 
They  must  be  disciples  of  Christ  or  believers.  (2)  They 
must  be  members  of  a  church  of  Christ.  (3)  None  but 
those  who  have  been  baptized  have  a  right  to  the  Lord's 
Supper.  Chapter  lY.  How  often  should  the  Supper  be 
observed  ?  Chapter  V.  By  whom  is  the  Supper  to  be 
administered?  Chapter  YI.  Objections  considered. 
The  whole  treatise  would  form  a  tract  of  less  than  a 
hundred  pages,  ISmo. 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  425 

While  busily  engaged  in  these  tasks  and  plans  of  use- 
ful authorship,  Dr.  Poindexter  probably  negleeted  the 
activity  of  life  which  his  heahhhad  always  imperatively 
required.  He  was  taken  sick  on  April  30tli,  with  a 
chill  and  the  accompanying  pains.  Though  compelled 
to  lie  down  much  on  the  following  days,  he  arose  and 
dressed  himself  every  morning.  On  the  fourth  of  May 
he  wrote  to  his  son-in-law  :  "  I  have  no  idea  tliat  I  can 
go  to  the  Convention.  If  I  were  free  from  disease,  I 
should  be  too  weak  for  such  a  trip.  Last  May  another 
was  prevented  by  sickness  from  attending,  and  has  since 
gone  to  a  more  glorious  Convention.^^  This  affecting 
reference  is  to  the  death  of  James  B.  Taylor,  a  few 
months  before.  Dr.  Poindexter's  disease  was  an  aggrava- 
tion of  that  from  which  he  had  so  long  suffered,  an  exacer- 
bated bronchitis,  upon  which  supervened  typhoid  pneu- 
monia. Early  one  morning  he  began  to  sink.  Plis  son- 
in-law  states  in  the  Religious  Herald  that  "his  sufferings 
were  very  great,  as  he  lay  gasping  for  breath  and  unal)le 
to  cough  up  the  phlegm.  Seeing  the  agony  of  his  wife, 
he  begged  her  not  to  give  way,  adding,  '  It  is  all  riglit.' 
A  short  time  before  his  death,  when  asked  as  to  his  hopes 
and  feelings,  he  said  in  substance, '  I  have  given  all  tliat 
into  the  hands  of  God,  and  he  will  not  deceive  me.' 
His  immediate  dissolution  was  painless — he  passeil  away 
without  a  struggle ;  '^  this  was  May  7, 1872.  His  remains 
were  interred  in  Orange. 

The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  met  at  Kalcigh, 
North  Carolina,  two  days  after  Dr.  Poindexter's  death. 
On  reaching  Raleigh,  or  upon  the  trains  in  going  there, 
the  delecrates  heard  the  news  with  the  greatest  surprise 


426  MEMOEIAL  OF  A.   M.   POINDEXTER. 

and  distress.  Nothing  had  been  generally  known  of  his 
sickness.  No  one  thought  of  anything  else  than  meeting 
him  at  Raleigh,  and  delighting  again,  as  so  often  before, 
in  his  conversation  and  his  inspiring  addresses.  Dr.  Jeter 
remarks  :  "  From  the  organization  of  the  Convention  to 
the  close  of  his  life  he  was  one  of  the  ruling  spirits  who 
shaped  its  measures  and  inspired  it  with  zeal  and  vigor. 
In  some  sense  Poindexter  and  Taylor  were  present  at 
the  meeting  in  Raleigh.  Their  names  were  often  men- 
tioned. Their  piety  and  labors  were  frequently  called 
to  remembrance.  Many  eyes  were  moistened  by  the 
touching  allusions  made  to  their  bright  examples  and 
their  happy  end.  How  much  the  kind  feeling,  harmony 
and  devotion  prevalent  on  the  occasion  were  due  to  these 
melting  and  hallowed  reminiscences  it  is  not  for  us  to 
know.  Good  men  are  a  blessing  while  they  live ;  and, 
dying,  they  bequeath  their  example,  their  reputation, 
and  their  influence,  a  precious  legacy,  to  the  w^orld. 
Virginia  Baptists  are  becoming  rich  in  the  memories  and 
the  renown  of  their  departed  worthies.  Let  us  then, 
brethren,  ^be  not  slothful,  but  followers  of  them  who 
through  faith  and  patience  inherit  the  promises.^  ^^ 

One  of  the  allusions  to  Poindexter's  recent  death  was 
made  by  Dr.  Pichard  Fuller,  in  a  missionary  address  on 
Saturday  evening.  It  was  in  the  form  of  an  impassioned 
apostrophe,  such  as  cannot  be  adequately  reported.  In 
fact,  a  report  of  true  eloquence  is  at  best  only  a  pale 
photograph,  where  the  lineaments  may  be  correctly 
given,  but  the  eye  cannot  flash,  nor  the  cheeks  glow  and 
burn,  nor  the  voice  thrill  with  its  more  than  magic 
power.      Somewhat  as  follows  Dr.  Fuller  spoke :    "  I 


MEMORIAL  OF   A.    M.   POINDEXTER.  427 

almost  think  sometimes  that  I  would  not  exchange 
places  with  an  angel  in  heaven  ;  if  I  did,  it  would  not 
be  with  Gabriel,  but  rather  with  that  angel  whom  John 
saw  flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  carrying  the  everlast- 
ing gospel  ^  to  every  nation  and  kindred  and  tongue  and 
people,  saying  with  a  loud  voice.  Fear  God,  and  give  glory 
to  him/  Fly  faster,  O  angel !  on  thy  mission ;  sweet  angol, 
fly  faster ;  and,  if  thou  canst  not  quicken  thy  flight,  go 
turn  over  thy  commission  to  Poindexter's  miglity  spirit, 
and  he  shall  bear  the  message  with  more  rapid  wing 
and  more  glowing  love  than  thou  canst,  O  angel !  He 
knows  a  love  thou  canst  never  know ;  he  is  now  singing 
a  song  thou  canst  never  learn, — the  song  of  a  redeemed 
soul  bought  by  the  precious  blood  of  Christ/'  *  There 
is  an  interesting  and  aflxicting  coincidence  between  this 
apostrophe  and  a  passage  in  Dr.  Poindexter's  sermon  of 
thirty  years  before  on  Ministerial  Fower  {Baptist  Preacher, 
Vol.  I.,  page  232),  to  which  we  have  already  referre<l : 
"  Oh,  it  is  a  commission  which  angels  might  desire  to 
share.  To  proclaim  'peace  on  earth,  good-will  to  men, 
and  glory  to  God  in  the  highest,'  through  the  redemp- 
tion of  lost  man— to  be  sent  forth  on  this  errand  of  love 
might  fire  the  heart  of  a  seraph  with  greater  ardor. 
Even  the  archangel  before  the  throne  is  conscious  of  a 
higher  joy  and  a  greater  honor  when  commissioned  to 
fly  through  mid-heaven,  Mia ving  the  everlasting  gospel 
to  preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  tlie  earth.'  And 
may  a  poor  mortal  join  in  this  blessed  work?  Tlien 
let  me  i:»roclaim  salvation  !  Yes,  let  me  tell  it  to  a 
world,  that  Jesus  died  to  save  them!     Oh,  that   my 

*  Compare  Cuthberl's  Life  of  Richard  Fuller,  p.  191. 


428  MEIVIORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

voice  could  pierce  the  ear  of  my  most  distant  country- 
men !  Oh,  that  I  had  a  tongue  for  the  poor,  wandering 
savage  of  our  western  wilds !  Oh,  that  I  had  a  voice 
for  Burmah,  and  for  China,  and  for  the  Islands  of  the 

Sea! 

*  Salvation,  oh,  salvation ! 

The  joyful  sound  proclaim, 
Till  earth's  remotest  nation 
•  Has  learned  Messiah's  name.'" 

Various  characteristics  of  A.  M.  Poindexter  have 
already  been  made  the  subject  of  passing  remark.  But 
it  will  be  appropriate  to  attempt  some  general  estimate 
of  his  character  and  powers.  In  this  we  shall  be  able 
to  quote  from  several  brethren  who  knew  him  well,  and 
especially  from  the  addresses  delivered  soon  after  his 
death  by  Dr.  A.  B.  Brown,  who,  through  striking  sim- 
ilarity in  certain  respects,  and  through  long  and  inti- 
mate association,  was  particularly  qualified  to  speak  of 
his  character. 

Dr.  Poindexter  was  a  strong  and  deep  thinker.  He 
perpetually  strove  to  reach  the  bottom  of  every  subject; 
to  understand  the  very  essence  of  things  and  their  most 
intimate  relations.  Every  branch  of  theological  and  of 
metaphysical  thinking  had  for  him  a  charm,  and  he 
never  wearied  of  renewed  effort  to  attain  more  just,  com- 
prehensive and  discriminating  views  of  truth.  He  had 
extraordinary  power  of  recalling,  at  a  moment's  notice, 
long  trains  of  thought.  Dr.  Brown  asked  him  one  day 
about  a  controversy  w^iich  he  had  been  conducting  in 
one  of  the  newspapers.  Poindexter  instantly  stated, 
without  the  least  appearance  of  effort,  the  line  of  thought 


MExMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    P0INDEXTF:R.  429 

in  every  article  that  had  appeared  on  both  sides.  ^lany 
a  time  has  he  been  known  to  rise  in  an  association  or 
convention,  when  some  quite  unexpected  question  had 
been  sprung  upon  the  body,  and  discuss  the  whole  mat- 
ter involved,  with  such  complete  understanding  of  its 
fundamental  principles,  such  orderly  arrangement  and 
terse  and  vigorous  statement,  as  to  be  simply  amazing. 
You  might  ask  him  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night  for 
his  views  upon  any  topic  of  Bible  interpretation,  theo- 
logical thinking,  philosophical  speculation  or  practical 
Christian  duty,  and  he  would  at  once  reply  with  as  full 
and  exact  statements  as  if  for  t\venty-four  hours  he  had 
been  thinking  of  that  subject  alone.  Dr.  Manly  ac- 
counts for  this  by  the  fact  that  Poindexter  habitually 
associated  every  thought  with  other  kindred  thoughts, 
as  a  careful  business  man  piles  away  papers  in  their 
proper  pigeon-holes.  We  might  say  that  he  had  a  place 
for  every  thought,  and  every  thought  in  its  place.  He 
loved  to  pursue  trains  of  thought  without  writing,  and, 
hi  his  long  journeyings  for  many  years,  he  would  spend 
much  time  in  the  most  profound  reflection  upon  the 
greatest  questions.  After  giving  the  maturest  consider- 
ation, and  reaching  what  seemed  satisflictory  positions, 
he  liked  then  to  put  it  all  down  in  writing,  with  a  view 
to  exactness  and  completeness  of  statement  and  to  per- 
manent preservation.  Probably  most  men  do  better  to 
aid  themselves  with  the  pen  at  earlier  stages  in  their 
investigation  of  a  subject.  But  every  one  should  culti- 
vate, as  far  as  for  him  may  be  possible,  the  power  of 
thinking  consecutively  without  external  aids.  This 
power  is  not  only  helpful  otherwise,  but  of  inestimable 


430  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTEE. 

value  to  a  public  speaker.  William  L.  Yancey,  that 
marvellous  tribune  of  the  people  in  Alabama,  once  said 
to  Dr.  Curry  that  "the  great  thing  for  a  speaker  is  to 
be  able  to  think  on  his  legs." 

Dr.  Poindexter  possessed,  with  a  partial  exception  in 
one  respect,  all  the  faculties  and  the  forces  which  make 
up  a  true  orator.  He  had  great  argumentative  power. 
He  delighted  not  simply  in  logical  analysis,  but  in  logi- 
cal construction.  We  have  seen  that  high  debate  with 
vigorous  antagonists,  whether  in  public  or  in  private, 
was  with  him  a  source  of  exquisite  enjoyment.  He 
fairly  loved  discussion,  as  fishes  love  to  swim,  and  birds 
to  course  through  upper  air;  it  was  his  mind's  very  ele- 
ment. And  he  loved  victory.  Yet  no  man  could  ever 
accuse  him  of  arguing  for  victory  rather  than  for  truth. 
On  this  point  hear  Dr.  Jeter :  "  That  Poindexter  should 
resort  to  any  trick  or  artifice  to  promote  his  ends  was 
impossible.  He  scorned  all  demagoguism,  and  if  he 
could  not  carry  his  points  by  truth  and  fair  argument, 
he  would  suffer  defeat  rather  than  appeal  to  prejudice 
and  passion  for  his  support. '^ 

He  was  a  man  of  strong  and  excitable  feelings,  which, 
when  aroused  by  some  great  thought  of  Christian  truth 
or  duty,  would  swell,  as  he  went  on  arguing  and  appeal- 
ing, to  the  loftiest  passion,  till  they  threatened  to  carry 
him  away  into  wild  extravagance,  till  it  seemed  that 
only  a  little  more  and  he  would  be  a  raving  madman, 
even  as  was  sometimes  charged  by  enemies  upon  De- 
mosthenes and  upon  Paul.  Yet  it  was  wonderful  to 
see  how  completely  these  swelling,  passionate  feelings 
were  controlled  by  his  mighty  will.     In  the  very  tor- 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POIN DEXTER.  431 

rent,  tempest  and  whirlwind  of  his  passion  he  did  not 
need  to  "  acquire  and  begeta  temperance  ; ''  he  possessed 
it,  by  force  of  constitution  and  force  of  lifelong  habit. 
Some  years  ago,  in  Munich,  great  attention  was  drawn 
to  a  picture  which  had  been  long  hidden  in  a  mountain 
castle.  A  horseman  has  been  observing  from  a  moun- 
tain's summit  a  vast  plain  below,  on  which  great  armies 
are  engaged  in  a  conflict.  Eager  to  take  part,  he  starts 
in  furious  gallop  down  the  gentle  slope.  Suddenly  the 
horse  is  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice.  The  rider  draws 
rein,  and  the  powerful  animal  throws  himself  back,  with 
strained  intensity  and  mighty  self-mastery,  safe  and 
strong,  though  within  an  inch  of  destruction.  One  could 
hardly  fail  to  think,  when  gazing  upon  that  powerful 
picture,  It  is  like  Poindexter  in  one  of  his  great  speeches. 
He  was  fond  of  addressing  himsalf  to  some  particular  in- 
dividual in  the  audience,  especially  toone  wlio  sat  near  him, 
with  a  pointed  argument,  or  a  sudden  and  vehement  appeal. 
Occasionally  he  would  rush  up  to  one  who  stood  near, 
throw  his  arms  around  the  man's  neck,  in  some  paroxysm 
of  passion,  and  while  continuing  to  speak,  would  embrace 
him  with  ever  tightening  grasp,  almost  to  the  point  of 
choking.  On  other  rare  occasions,  after  ranging  widely 
about  the  floor  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  suddenly,  in  some 
grand  outburst,  he  would  spring  up  with  one  foot  on  the 
front  seat,  and  stand  poised  like  a  winged  Mercury,  with 
arms  all  abroad  and  face  on  fire,  upborne  by  the  tem- 
pest of  his  passion.  And  from  any  such  abnormal  situ- 
ation he  could  recover  with  perfect  simplicity,  because 
of  his  absolute  self-possession.  He  used  to  say  that 
physical  power  is  immensely  important  to  a  preacher, 


432  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

and  so  is  intellectual  power,  but  most  important  of  all 
is  heart  power. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  orator  is  imagination. 
Dr.  Brown  thinks  that  Poindexter  did  not  possess  a 
high  degree  of  imaginative  power.  Others  have  ex- 
pressed a  different  opinion.  We  all  notice  how  imag- 
ination and  passion  act  and  re-act  upon  each  other.  It 
may  be  that  Dr.  Poindexter's  deeply  passionate  nature 
had  to  be  first  kindled  before  his  imagination  would  take 
fire,  while  in  some  persons  the  imagination  is  kindled 
first.  Certainly  in  his  higher  flights  of  impasioned  ap- 
peal he  used  imagery  that  revealed  imagination  of  a 
high  order. 

His  language  was  excellent  in  point  of  clearness  and 
careful  discrimination,  and,  considering  that  he  so  often 
spoke  without  immediate  preparation,  its  terseness  and 
force  was  very  remarkable.  This,  of  course,  connected 
itself  with  his  habits  of  exact  thinking  and  careful  co- 
ordination of  thoughts.  Our  thoughts  become  distinct 
to  our  own  minds  only  by  silently  associating  them  with 
appropriate  words,  and  so  there  is  a  very  intimate 
relation  between  exact  thinking  and  precise  expression. 
One  who  really  knows  just  what  he  wishes  to  say,  can 
commonly  say  it  in  fit  words  and  few. 

The  one  great  and  marked  defect  in  Poindexter^s 
public  speaking  lay  in  his  voice.  It  had  considerable 
power,  and  did  not  lack  some  elements  of  native  sweet- 
ness. But  it  was  seriously  damaged  by  the  throat 
disease  which  began  during  his  college  life  and  clung  to 
him  through  all  the  years.  The  harshness  thus  pro- 
duced was  aggravated  by  his  serious  deafness,  which 


MEMORIAT.   OF   A.    U.    POINDEXTER.  433 

prevented  delicate  modulations  of  tone.  And  lie  early 
fell  into  a  faulty  vocal  habit.  We  have  seen  how  very 
feeble  his  health  was  during  the  first  years  of  his  min- 
isterial life.  Nervous  weakness  always  makes  it  diffi- 
cult for  a  man  who  speaks  with  great  excitement  to 
control  his  utterance.  This  surpassingly  excitable  young 
minister,  si)eaking  in  a  storm  of  passion  to  large  audi- 
diences  at  some  protracted  meeting  or  association,  per- 
haps in  the  open  air,  gradually  fell  into  a  sing-song, 
which  grew  upon  him  through  life.  Very  many  Bap- 
tist ministers  of  a  hundred  years  ago  had  fallen  into  a 
kindred,  but  far  worse  habit,  called  the  "  holy  wliine,'^ 
from  preaching  with  intense  excitement  for  a  long  time, 
so  that  the  over-strained  vocal  organs  instinctively  re- 
lieved themselves  by  alternately  raising  and  lowering  the 
sound,  just  as  one  who  is  tired  of  standing  will  instinct- 
ively change  position.  Occasionally,  even  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  one  hears  a  great  lawyer  or  political  speaker 
who  shows  a  similar  tendency.  All  who  greatly  strain 
their  voices  in  speaking,  especially  if  they  are  very  ex- 
citable, ought  to  know  that  they  are  exposed  to  this 
danger.  In  his  later  life  Dr.  Poindexter  much  regretted 
this  blemish  in  his  speaking,  and  would  carefully  guard 
against  it  in  all  the  calmer  parts  of  a  discourse;  but 
when  he  became  greatly  excited,  the  old  habit  of  utter- 
ance re-asserted  its  sway. 

The  other  externals  of  his  public  speaking  were  de- 
cidedly good.  His  face  was  rugged,  but  strong,  and 
that  is  the  only  important  point  in  one  who  seeks  to  ex- 
ercise mental  dominion  over  others.  Dr.  George  B. 
Taylor  remarks  :  "  His  eye  told  the  tale  ;  that  pleading 
28 


434  MEMORIAL   OF   A.   M.    POINDEXTER. 

blue  eye  which  Dr.  Fuller  declared  to  be  irresistible,  and 
which,  with  all  its  intelligeuce,  often  seemed  to  me  to 
have  something  of  the  wistfulness  of  the  most  devoted 
of  dumb  creatures."  His  figure,  as  we  have  intimated 
at  the  outset,  was  graceful  and  pleasing,  and  his  action 
was  natural,  varied  and  often  extremely  commanding. 

In  regard  to  his  power  as  a  public  speaker,  let  us  add 
at  this  point  from  a  eulogy  by  Dr.  Brown  :  '^  His  ser- 
mons were  characterized  by  great  variety  in  the  exhibi- 
tion of  a  few  fundamental  doctrines.  A  talented  man 
who  felt  at  liberty  to  discuss  eveiything  might  have 
displayed  more  variety.  Few  circumstanced  as  himself 
could  have  shown  equal  richness  of  resources  in  dealing 
with  the  cardinal  points  of  the  faith.  The  frequent  re- 
currence of  the  same  terms,  atonement,  redemption,  sub- 
stitution, etc.,  and  his  poverty  of  literary  and  scientific 
illustration,  consequent  on  want  of  time  to  read,  misled 
some  persons  in  their  judgment  of  his  variety.  Wide 
as  his  mind  was  in  its  range,  when  he  selected  his  theme 
he  was  incisive  and  progressive  rather  than  discursive 
in  its  treatment.  As  he  moved  majestically  forward, 
making  all  luminous  in  the  line  of  his  progress,  you 
would  regret  that  the  blaze  was  not  thrown  on  many 
interesting  collateral  subjects ;  but  he  judged  it  best  to 
reserve  them  for  another  line  of  exploration,  and  pressed 
on.  He  commenced  dry,  calm  and  perfectly  self-pos- 
sessed. His  congregation  might  indicate  some  impa- 
tience with  these  drier  beginnings,  and  demand  by  their 
manner  a  premature  introduction  of  the  luxury  of  more 
glowing  thought  and  intenser  passion.  But  the  enthusi- 
asm mu??t  grow  out  of  the  logic  and  the  movement ;  and 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    PGINDEXTER.  435 

he  would  not  be  hurried.  So  he  regularly  increased  in 
passion  to  the  end.  Logic  was  dominant  even  in  tlie 
sometimes  tempestuous  conclusion.  But  it  became  more 
direct,  and  the  individual  thoughts  more  vivid,  as  he 
advanced  ;  till,  having  been  all  through  more  convinc- 
ing to  the  reason,  he  became  in  the  end  more  moving  to 
the  deeper  affections,  and  emphatically  more  constrain- 
ing to  the  will,  than  any  orator  I  have  ever  heard."  Dr. 
Tyree  says:  "Under  the  sermons,  and  especially  under 
the  addresses,  of  Poindexter,  I  have  witnessed  greater 
effects  than  under  the  addresses  of  any  other  great 
preacher  of  the  Old  Dominion."  Dr.  Sydnor  made  a 
similar  statement  in  his  opening  address  as  president  of 
the  General  Association,  at  Staunton,  a  few  weeks  after 
Poindexter's  death. 

We  have  seen  already  that  both  in  public  speaking 
and  in  private  life  Dr.  Poindexter  exhibited  prodigious 
strength  of  will.  It  may  be  added  that  he  was  a  man 
of  unsurpassed  courage.  On  this  point  let  Dr.  Brown 
speak  :  "  It  was  a  theory  of  his  that  moral  and  j)liysi- 
cal  courage  were  usually  conjoined.  They  certainly 
were  in  his  case.  Uncommonly  superior  to  the  fear  of 
danger  and  of  death,  he  was  still  more  an  example  of 
every  phase  of  moral  courage.  Keenly  alive  to  the 
ridiculous,  and  naturally  very  ambitious  of  honor,  he 
seemed  utterly  destitute  of  alMhe  weakly  and  weakening 
bashfulnesses  and  timidities.  He  defied  opposition,  ob- 
loquy, scorn,  and  would  have  parted  from  his  warmest 
friend,  though  his  affections  were  the  deepest,  rather 
than  surrender  his  honest  conviction.  All  the  courages, 
active  and   passive,  were  his.     He  could   have  defied 


436  MEMORIAL  OF   A.   M.   POINDEXTER. 

priests  and  devils  with  Luther ;  he  could  have  quaifed 
the  hemlock  with  the  uudisturbed  serenity  of  Socrates ; 
he  could  have  mounted  the  block  with  the  unfaltering 
step  of  Russell ;  he  could  have  led  the  fight  for  civil 
and  religious  liberty  with  a  brain  all  keenly  alert  and  a 
heart  all  on  fire  like  the  brave  Zwingle."  As  an  instance 
of  his  moral  courage,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  his 
earliest  pastoral  life  he  unintentionally  gave  offence  to 
some  persons  by  a  remark  in  the  pulpit,  and  shortly 
afterwards  a  young  man,  blind  with  misunderstanding 
and  furious  anger,  led  the  young  preacher  some  steps 
away  for  a  conversation,  and  there  commenced  a  personal 
and  ignominious  assault.  Plere  was  a  conflict  between 
the  two  forms  of  courage.  Poindexter  in  his  private 
"  Remembrancer  '^  quietly  says :  "  At  first  I  felt  irritated, 
and  had  like  to  have  struck  him.  I  only,  however, 
caught  at  his  whip,  which  I  did  several  times,  when 
this  passage  came  with  sweetness  and  force  to  my  mind, 
^  Blessed  are  they  that  are  persecuted  for  righteousness' 
sake.'  I  let  my  hand  drop,  and  committing  myself 
unto  God,  felt  inexpressibly  happy."  That  was  courage 
indeed.  The  matters  involved  were  afterwards  ex- 
plained, with  due  acknowledgments,  and  the  parties  be- 
came friends. 

Dr.  Brown  adds  on  a  related  point :  "  His  temper 
was  naturally  rather  quick,  of  immense  force,  and  now 
and  then  of  tremendous  violence.  An  outburst  or  two 
in  boyhood  greatly  alarmed  him.  His  strong  affection 
for  friends  and  his  conscience  warmly  recommended,  and 
his  vigorous  will  enforced,  its  almost  entire  suppression. 
I  have  seen   him  in  keen  and  sudden  encounters.     I 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    PQINDEXTER.  437 

have  seen  him  strongly  indignant,  but  I  never  saw  from 
him  a  decided  outburst  of  anger."  Some  have  supposed 
that  there  was  such  an  outburst  at  an  educational  con- 
vention held  in  Richmond  in  1871,  and  conijK.sed  of 
delegates  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Dr.  Toindcxtcr 
thought  he  had  been  misunderstood  in  a  political  allu- 
sion, and  wished  to  correct  the  impression.  As  soon  as 
he  took  up  the  subject,  the  presiding  officer  pronounced 
it  out  of  order,  but  he  continued  speaking.  The  Presi- 
dent went  on  rapping,  louder  and  louder,  but  Poindexter 
elevated  his  voice  till  he  had  said  his  say.  Some 
thought  that  this  was  unseemly  anger.  But  he  went 
immediately  to  the  President,  who  was  Dr.  Boyce,  and 
said,  "  You  were  right  about  the  point  of  order,  but  I 
was  determined  not  to  let  these  brethren  go  away  with- 
out explaining  my  position.  I  was  bound  to  be  heard." 
Dr.  Boyce  says  that  "there  was  not  the  slightest  un- 
pleasant feeling  on  either  side." 

He  was  remarkable  for  tender  and  warm  affections. 
Several  have  testified,  in  print  or  in  writing,  and  many 
of  us  retain  cherished  personal  memories,  as  to  the  ardor 
and  fidelity  of  his  friendship.  His  half-brother,  Mr. 
Jordan,  gives  this  closing  ])aragraph :  "  It  falls  not 
within  my  province  to  undertake  any  general  descrip- 
tion of  Dr.  Poindexter's  character.  But  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  speak  of  him  in  the  relation  we  sustained  to 
each  other,  and  to  drop  a  tear  upon  his  grave,  as  from 
my  full  heart  I  exclaim.  He  was  a  good  and  noble- 
hearted  brother !  He  measured  not  his  kindness  to  me 
by  the  rule  of  a  cold  and  cautious  reciprocation,  but  when, 
from  negligence,  I  failed  to  return  his  visits  or  reply  to 


438  MEMORIAL   OF  A.    M.   POI^'DEXTEE. 

his  letters,  he  still,  with  a  manly  dignity,  an  amiable 
magnanimity,  an  unabating  kindness,  as  if  all  the  offices 
of  affection  were  due  from  him,  continued  to  me  his 
visits  and  his  correspondence.  Oh,  my  brother,  truly 
thou  wast  a  good  man.  Stern  in  the  integrity  of  prin- 
ciple— inflexible  as  adamant  in  his  opposition  to  error — 
neither  concealing  nor  trying  to  conceal  his  intense 
disdain  for  all  duplicity  or  tergiversation  —  abhorring 
whatever  involved  the  sacrifice  of  principle,  and  whoever 
was  involved  in  such  a  sacrifice,  his  heart  was  full  of 
sympathy  and  kindness  ;  and  the  hand  which  mercilessly 
crushed  the  unprincipled  recusant,  lifted  with  the  very 
gentleness  of  a  mother  the  child  of  sorrow,  misfortuiie 
or  penitence.  No  wonder  that  such  a  man  was  loved." 
One  way  in  which  he  showed  affection  was  by  can- 
did and  outspoken  criticism  and  even  rebuke.  Many  a 
young  minister  remembers  the  benefit  to  himself  of  some 
kindly  criticism  upon  his  preaching  or  his  life  which 
Poindexter  made.  Take  the  statement  of  Dr.  George 
B.  Taylor :  "  He  was  not  only  a  sharp  critic,  but  ex- 
tremely outspoken ;  nevertheless,  so  far  as  my  experi- 
ence and  observation  go,  his  censorship  did  not  rasp  the 
feelings  or  offend  self-love,  as  does  that  of  some  well- 
meaning  persons.  His  criticisms  seemed  to  imply  that 
he  thought  the  subject  worth  mending,  and  so  they  had 
an  encouraging  and  tonic  effect.  Indeed,  while  he  frankly 
pointed  out  defects  and  faults  in  me  and  my  work,  no 
man  ever  encouraged  me  more  to  hope  that  I  might 
make  something  of  myself.  A  more  affectionate  hcari 
than  his  never  beat  in  any  breast.  His  love  for  his  own 
dear  ones  was  tender,  his  friends  were  bound  to  him 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDKXTER.  439 

with  hooks  of  steel,  and  his  highest  joy  was  to  ho  in  the 
midst  of  the  brethren,  even  though  they  were  plain  imd 
uneducated."  Add  a  deeply  pathetic  passa!j;e  from 
Dr.  Brown  :  ''  PLTsoually  I  have  lung  thought  him,  all 
in  all,  the  best  friend  I  had  on  earth.  Other  friends  I 
have  who  would  equally  rejoice  with  me  in  prosperity, 
sympathize  as  deeply  witli  me  in  adversity,  and  deal  even 
more  tenderly  with  me  in  the  hour  of  humiliation.  Very 
few  friends  have  I  remaining  so  judicious  in  counsel,  so 
active  and  untiring  in  their  efforts ;  not  one,  not  one  so 
sternly  and  yet  so  tenderly  faithful.  O  his  place  can 
never,  never  be  supplied.  Brethren,  you  have  not  the 
nerve  to  do  it.  Hereafter — it  is  a  sad  thought — I  must 
look  to  my  enemies,  if  I  have  them,  to  do  the  work 
which  had  been  so  much  better  done  by  this  incompara- 
ble friend." 

Nothing  in  A.  M.  Poindexter  was  more  remarkable 
than  his  whole-souled  piety.  All  his  great  faculties  and 
strong  proclivities  seemed  to  be  pervaded  by  the  spirit 
of  the  gospel,  consecrated  to  the  service  of  Christ.  We 
find,  upon  this  point,  some  characteristically  discrimina- 
ting and  strong  expressions  of  Dr.  Jeter  :  "  Brother 
Poindexter  was  quite  as  notable  for  his  piety  as  for  his 
talents.  He  was  a  man  of  deep  convictions ;  and  of 
nothing  was  his  conviction  more  profound  than  of  the 
truth  and  importance  of  Christianity.  His  feelings  were 
intense  ;  but  most  intense  on  religious  subjects.  Natur- 
ally his  temper  was  impulsive,  rugged  and  overbearing  ; 
but  grace  made  it  gentle,  kind  and  conciliating.  His 
impetuosity  might  lead  him  astray  ;  but  his  honesty  of 
purpose  would  bring  him  to  the  right  point.     As  much 


440  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

as  any  man,  if  not  more  than  any  man  we  have  ever 
known,  his  words  were  an  index  of  his  heart.     Frank- 
ness was  his  distinctive  attribute.     When  he  spoke  you 
might  be  sure,  not  only  that  he  expressed  his  honest 
convictions,  but  that  he  kept  back  nothing  through  fear 
or  affection.     So  strong  was  his  inclination  to  speak  with 
faithfulness  that  it  was  not  always  restrained  by  the  dic- 
tates of  prudence.      He  had  his  faults — such  as  are  in- 
separable from  ardent,  strong  and  resolute  natures.     He 
was  sometimes  indiscreet,   rash,  overbearing  and  even 
obstinate ;  but  he  was  a  Christian  of  strong  faith,  warm 
heart,  generous  hand  and  disinterested  toil.'^     Dr.  Syd- 
nor  writes :  "  He  was   a   deeply    pious    man.     I   had 
abundant  opportunity  to  learn   his  devotional  habits.'' 
Dr.  Brown  gives  the  following  account :  "  I  never  heard 
from  him  a  doubt  about  his  personal  salvation.     I  have 
heard  enough  indeed  to   be  sure  that  he  was  scarcely  to 
any  extent  troubled  with  doubts.    He  and  his  first  wife, 
who  had  great  influence  over  each  other,  were  alike  in 
this.     He  exhibited  as  deep  a  sense  of  unworthiness  as 
any  Christian   I  ever  conversed  with  ;  he  lamented  as 
profoundly  that  his   life  had  been  so  unprofitable  ;    yet 
neither  of  them  expressed  any  doubts.  They  knew  that 
God  promised  salvation   to  the  believer.      They  were 
conscious  of  some  faith,  as  every  one  who  believes  at  all 
must  be.     From  an  accurate  examination  of  the  whole 
Gospel,  and  a  careful  survey  of  their  own  attitude  to  that 
Gospel,  they  reached  the  assurance  of  having  cordially 
accepted  the  soul-saving  truth,  and  the  inevitable  result 
was  a  personal  appropriation  of  the  promise.      Brother 
J.  B.  Taylor  and  myself  well  remember  a  conversation 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    rOINDEXTER.  441 

we  had  with  hira  a  few  months  before  liIs  death.  Sonie- 
thiug  was  said  by  one  of  us  about  reaching  heaven,  as 
if  it  were  a  thing  still  doubtful.  Our  hearts  were 
thrilled  with  his  emphatic  tone  and  gesture  when  he 
said,  with  mingled  remonstrance  and  tenderness, '  Oh,  we 
shall  get  to  Heaven.  Those  who  love  Christ  will  all  get 
to  Heaven.^ '' 

It  is  not  often  that  a  man  of  Poindexter's  oratorical 
gifts  has  also  great  practical  wisdom  and  power.  Every 
minister  of  the  gospel  has  indeed  an  urgent  need  for 
this  combination,  to  be  at  once  an  impressive  i)reacher 
and  a  wise  and  energetic  pastor.  The  most  wonderful 
thing  about  Mr.  Spurgeon  is,  that  while  he  holds  the 
world  as  an  audience  for  his  preaching,  he  shows  also 
administrative  talent  like  that  of  a  great  railway  presi- 
dent or  the  commander  of  an  army.  Dr.  Poindexter's 
judgment  in  practical  affairs  was  highly  valued  by  his 
friends.  Dr.  Jeter  makes  no  exception,  but  says,  "  There 
was  no  man  whose  counsel  we  so  much  prized,  and  whose 
commendation  we  were  so  anxious  to  merit."  And 
among  many  similar  statements,  add  this  from  Dr. 
George  B.  Taylor  :  "  Poindexter  was  a  capital  adviser, 
willing  to  study  carefully  a  question  presented  to  him, 
and  then  give  frankly  his  views.  I  remember  once,  when 
two  courses  were  open  to  me  and  I  was  much  perplexed, 
I  submitted  the  case  to  him.  His  opinion  was  given 
with  such  strong^  reasons  in  its  favor  as  at  once  to  re- 
lieve  and  decide  me."  His  powerful  influence  over  men 
was  often  shown,  as  we  have  seen,  in  healing  estrange- 
ment between  individuals  or  factions.  It  a])peared  also 
in  his  agency  work.      In  fact,  he  used  to  be  sometimes 


442  MEMOEIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER. 

accused  of  extorting  the  last  dollar,  through  his  great 
j3ersoual  influence  and  his  vehement  appeals  in  public 
and  in  private.  Dr.  Brown  was  very  anxious  to  correct 
this  impression,  and  remarks  :  '''■  Some  would  seem  to 
have  thought  him  an  artful  and  a  merciless  magician, 
that  would  charm  them  out  of  their  money,  or  extort 
from  them  whether  they  would  or  not.  This  is  a  great 
mistake.  If  I  should  name  that  one  agent  of  all  whom 
I  have  known  that  was  most  scrupulous  in  awakening 
and  addressing  right  motives  for  giving  money,  it  would 
be  A.  M.  Poindexter.  As  to  getting  the  last  dollar  he 
could,  hear  a  single  fact.  I  was  with  him  once  when  a 
revered  brother  now  no  more,  after  hearing  his  represen- 
tations, promptly  and  cheerfully  gave  him  his  bond  to 
llichmond  College  for  a  hundred  dollars.  In  a  walk 
which  we  took  soon  afterwards  he  remarked,  *  I  could 
have  gotten  three  hundred  dollars  from  this  friend,  but 
I  wouldn't  do  it.  He  might  have  felt  sore  on  reflection, 
and  his  benevolence  would  have  been  chilled.  He  will 
be  glad  that  he  has  given  this  amount,  and  his  benevo- 
lence will  be  cultivated  rather  than  checked — a  result  at 
which  I  constantly  aim.'  "  So  wise  and  good  a  man  as 
Dr.  Poindexter  would  of  course  discern  the  principles 
involved  in  this  matter,  and  aim  at  what  was  most  ju- 
dicious. If  it  be  supposed  that  his  ardent  temperament 
and  absorbed  devotion  to  the  object  then  in  hand  some- 
times led  him  by  overwhelming  appeals  to  draw  from 
persons  more  than  they  would  be  walling  to  give  the 
next  year  for  Foreign  Missions,  or  a  larger  subscription 
for  the  College  than  they  could  be  afterwards  induced 
to  pay  up,  this  is  only  to  say  that  he  was  human,  and 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDEXTER.  443 

may  have  sometimes  erred — not  to  dwell  on  the  fart  that 
the  contributors  were  human  likewise.  In  sootli,  to  ob- 
tain pledges  which  could  not  afterwards  be  collected,  or 
repeated  in  a  subsequent  year,  lias  been  the  fortune  of 
others  among  us,  who  have  never  been  successfully  ac- 
cused of  overwhelming  eloquence.  Remember  also  that 
most  of  Dr.  Poindextcr's  work  as  an  agent  was  of  a 
kind  which  he  did  not  expect  to  repeat,  and  was  j)cr- 
formed  in  a  state  of  things  somewhat  different  from  the 
present  situation.  There  is  no  doubt  that  all  agents 
should  aim  not  simply  at  present  results,  but  still  more 
at  such  cuUivation  and  seed-sowing  as  will  promise  a 
yet  richer  harvest  in  coming  years. 

As  to  attainments,  Dr.  Poindexter  would  hardly  be 
considered  a  man  widely  read.  His  manner  of  life,  as 
required  both  by  temperament,  health  and  the  earnest 
wishes  of  his  brethren,  was  unfavorable  to  extensive 
and  varied  reading ;  and  he  loved  better  to  think  pro- 
foundly upon  great  themes,  than  to  range  over  the  fields 
of  literature.  Yet  he  was  well  acquainted  with  leading 
writers  in  metaphysical  and  ethical  philos(»[)liy,  as  well 
as  with  systematic  theology,  and  was  a  thoughtful 
student  of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  He  onee  told  Dr. 
Boyce  that  he  had  earnestly  tried  to  decide  for  himself, 
as  far  as  was  possible,  the  exact  meaning  of  every  sen- 
tence in  the  Bible.  He  did  not  excel  in  verbal  or  exact 
exegesis,  but  had  great  power  of  putting  himself  in 
sympathy  with  the  sacred  writer's  thought  and  tracing 
out  the  general  connection  of  a  })assage.  lie  liatl  a 
good  acquaintance  with  general  history  and  particularly 
with  the  state  of  the  world  in  our  own  time.     He  also 


444  MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POIXDEXTER. 

read  in  rhetoric  and  in  general  literature.  Whatever  he 
knew  he  was  apt  to  know  accurately  and  permanently, 
and  to  make  it  the  subject  of  fruitful  reflection. 

The  Baptists  of  Virginia  have  had  many  great  and 
noble  leaders.  We  are  tempted  to  sore  depression  at 
the  thought  that  their  places  cannot  be  supplied.  But 
in  truth  every  great  man  is  sui  generis.  This  Avas  em- 
phatically true  of  A.  M.  Poindexter — he  stood  out  in 
distinct  outline  as  markedly  diiFerent  from  all  other 
men.  And  it  was  true  of  his  chief  associates  in  minis- 
terial labor  and  denominational  leadership.  How  curi- 
ously unlike  were  Poindexter  and  Jeter !  Any  attempt 
at  comparison  between  them  would  run  perpetually  into 
contrasts.  And  how  unlike  to  either  was  Taylor,  or 
Howell,  or  William  F.  Broaddus  !  Yet  they  were  all 
highly  endowed,  all  deeply  pious  and  all  eminently  use- 
ful. It  is  then  idle  to  think  of  supplying  such  a  man's 
place,  by  the  substitution  of  another  man.  But  the 
broad  and  busy  field  of  human  endeavor  may  be  equally 
filled  by  successive  generations,  though  no  two  individ- 
uals successively  occupy  the  same  space.  Every  one 
must  strive,  in  simplicity  and  humility,  and  by  the  help 
of  God's  grace,  to  develop  his  individuality,  to  make 
the  most  of  his  inherited  possibilities  and  providential 
opportunities.  It  may  be  true,  in  the  sphere  of  relig- 
ious or  of  political  activity,  that  the  present  workers 
comprise  no  man  equal  to  the  great  leaders  of  a  former 
time.  But  let  every  man  simply  and  faithfully  do  his 
best,  and  by  God's  blessing  the  world's  work  will  still 
go  on.  Take  care,  O  brother,  if  ever  you  begin  to 
speak  of  discouragement,  or  hint  at  failure  in  any  de- 


MEMORIAL   OF   A.    M.    POINDKXTKR.  445 

partnient  of  our  dear  Lord  and  RodecMner's  service 
take  care — lest  Poindexter  should  sprin(r  out  of  his 
grave  to  chide  you.  O,  with  what  buruing  words  would 
he  tell  of  the  work  that  now  presses  to  be  don(i ;  of 
the  Master  that  is  the  same,  while  his  servants  go  and 
come;  of  the  grace  of  God  that  is  sulliciont  to  help, and 
the  promises  of  God  that  are  sure  to  be  fulfdled! 
"Remember  your  leaders,  who  spake  unto  you  the 
word  of  God  ;  and  considering  the  issue  of  their  life, 
imitate  their  faith.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday 
and  to-day,  yea,  and  forever.'^ 


'STORY  OF  THE  BAPTISTS.' 

Seventh  Edition,   Thirty-third  Thousand, 


B^sr  16.  B.  cook:     jd.  jd. 


416  pp*)  IGino.    Illustrated. 


NOTICES  OF  THE  PRESS. 


"  Dr.  Cook  has  a  direct  and  unaffected  style,  and  puts  on  every  page  the  glow  of  his  earnest 
soul.  We  need  popular  works  on  this  line,  and  we  are  sure  that  this  book  of  Dr.  Cook's  will 
furnish  helpful  reading  to  many  who  are  eager  to  know  more  of  the  Baptists.  We  warmly  recom- 
mend it  to  the  kindly  consideration  of  the  public ." — I\e/2£'wtis  Herald. 

"  It  should  find  a  place  in  every  Sunday-school  library,  and  in  the  family  libraries  of  our 
people.  It  will  certainly  be  read  with  both  interest  and  profit,  even  by  those  who  have  long  been 
familiar  with  the  wonderful  story." — T/ie  National  Baptht,  Phila.,  Fa. 

"  It  is  a  valuable  addition  to  Baptist  History." — American  Baptist  Flag,  St.  Louis. 

"  It  is  replete  with  interesting  and  valuable  information." — Tenn.  Baptist. 

"A  great  amount  of  information  of  interest  to  every  Baptist." — Christian  Herald,  Detroit. 

"The  story  compasses  the  entire  ficXA." —  your nal  and  Messenger,  Cincinnati. 

"It  indicates  great  industry  and  wide  research." — Baptist  Weekly,  N.  Y. 

"The  book  is  admirably  suited  to  enrich  the  Sunday-school  library."—  Christian  Index. 

"  It  is  destined  to  meet  with  an  immense  sale,  on  account  of  its  cheapness,  convenience  and 
general  worth." — Texas  Baptist,  Dallas,  Texas. 

"  We  are  sincerely  happy  to  give  it  our  warm  endorsement.  It  is  the  best  book  of  the  kind 
that  we  know." — Standard,  Chicago. 

"  As  a  popular  history  it  has  some  decided  merits,  and  supplies  a  large  fund  of  information 
that  will  be  most  useful  to  any  intelligent  reader.  We  welcome  any  attempt  to  write  the 
history  of  the  Baptists,  for  comparatively  few  of  our  members  know  anything  about  it." 
— Exaininer,  N.  V. 

'■  Three  copies  should  have  a  place  in  every  Baptist  family,  one  to  keep  at  home,  and  two  to 
lend  out  to  the  neighbors.  '  The  Story'  will  be  found  full  of  interest  and  information,  and  inter- 
spersed with  facts  and  arguments  that  must  make  a  strong  impression  for  truth  and  purity  wher- 
ever read."— 7Vjr«i-  Baptist  Herald. 

"  The  author  presents  an  amount  of  exceedingly  valuable  information  concerning  Baptists, 
both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  which  is  contained  within  no  other  volume  within  our  knowl- 
edge. We  believe  that  every  Baptist  parent  v/ould  do  well  to  put  this  book  into  the  hands  of  his 
children.  Such  is  the  pressure  brought  upon  the  children  of  Baptist  parents  from  outside  influ- 
ences that  it  is  exceedingly  important  that  they  should  be  familiar  with  Baptist  history  and 
Baptist  principles.  We  trust  that  the  book  may  have  a  wide  circulation ;  certainly  it  deserves 
\t."— Central  Baptist,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"  Many  facts  are  given  that  Baptists  ought  to  know,  and  are  not  likely  to  learn  outside  the 
volume  before  us.     It  deserves,  and  is  having  a  wide  circulation." — H'esterfi  Recorder. 

"  Ought  to  be  in  the  hands  cf  all  young  Baptists.  Gives  a  plain,  clear  and  concise  history  of 
the  Baptists." — Kind  ITords. 

"  It  contains  a  large  amount  of  valuable  information  in  an  interesting  form.  It  would  be  a 
good  text-book  for  ministerial  students  in  the  schools  for  the  colored  people." — Home  Mission 
Monthly,  New  York. 

"  We  find  this  volume  exceedingly  interesting.  The  facts  and  incidents  here  collected  cover  a 
wide  area  of  time  and  space,  and  are  many  of  them  intense  and  thrilling  to  a  great  degree  " — 
Christiati  Secretary,  Hartford,  Conti. 


SOLD    BY   SUBSCRIPTION    ONLY. 

AGENTS  WANTED  in  every  part  of  the  United  States  and  Canada. 


OPINIONS  OF  PROMINENT  MEN. 


"A  fine  volume.  You  did  well  to  be  generous  in  the  use  of  pictures  in  a  book  Intended  to  go 
Into  all  homes.  They  will  interest  old  as  well  as  young,  and  give  such  a  varied  view  of  men, 
institutions,  churches,  etc.,  connected  with  our  denominational  life,  as  will  be  instructive  aod 
in.spiring."— G.  ZX  B.  Pepper,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Prist.  Colby  University,  Me. 

"  I  very  heartily  commend  the  work  of  Dr.  Cook,  '  The  Story  of  the  BaptisU,'  as  worthy 
of  a  wide  circulation."— //^-w;-^  G.  IVesion,  D.  D.,  President  Crozer  I heological  Sttninary. 

"  Every  Baptist  family  ought  to  have  it."— 7.  B.  Ilaivthorne,  D.  D  ,  Atlanta,  Ca. 

"  1  very  much  hope  that  every  member  of  the  church  and  congregation,  who  potsibly  can, 
•vill  have  possession  of  this  book.     It  is  very  necessary  to  have  it."— Il'ayland  Hoyt,  D  D. 

"  It  is  the  best  book  for  general  information  ever  offered  the  denomination."— J/.  B.  H'harlam, 
D.  D.,  ]\Iontgoviery,  Alabama. 

"  I  would  like  to  put  it  in  the  hands  of  every  Baptist  in  the  land."—/".  //.  Ker/aat,  D.  D  , 
Brooklyn,  N.  V. 

"  Its  perusal  will  give  to  all  a  clear  and  thorough  view  of  our  principles."— //ow.  Ilormti* 
Gates  yones,  D.  C.  L.,  Vice-President  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 

"I  have  read  'The  Story'— every  word  of  it.  It  is  good,  interesting  and  edifying.  You 
have  done  the  work  well,  condensed  grandly.  You  have  given  us  a  large  lit>rary  in  orve  ^irnll 
volume.  Pastors  and  Superintendents  would  do  a  good  thing  to  have  several  copies  of  '  l"h« 
Story'  in  the  Sunday-school  and  church  libraries,  and  urge  upon  their  people  to  read  \\."—Rrv. 
y.  W.  M.  Williavis,  D.  D.,  Baltitnore. 

*'  It  contains  a  vast  amount  of  useful  information."— /i*<73rr/  Louny,  D.  D. ,  Plaim/itld,  S  y. 

"  I  heartily  congratulate  you  on  the  success  of  your  book.  It  meets  a  felt  want."— ^r».  7". 
T.  Eaton,  D.  D.,  Louisville,  Ky. 

"  I  have  been  much  pleased  with  the  perusal  of  this  book."— A*<t.  Wm.  Henry  StrkklmtiJ, 
D.  D.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

"  I  take  great  pleasure  in  adding  my  hearty  commendation.  I  have  read  the  book  with  great 
interest.  It  ought  to  have  a  place  in  every  Sunday-school  library  and  in  the  homes  of  our  people. 
Parents  could  not  do  better  than  to  put  it  in  the  hands  of  their  children  after  they  have  read  U 
themselves." — A.  y.  Pozvland,  D.  D.,  Baltimore. 

"  You  have  attempted  the  Multutn  in  parvo,  and  so  far  as  I  can  judge  from  a  mere  glance, 
you  have  had  remarkable  success." — W.  S.  McKenzic,  D.  D.,  Boston. 

"Very  attractive  volume.  Real  addition  to  my  library,  and  helpful  in  my  studies." — Rf9. 
Geo.  E.  Horr,  yr.,  Charlestown,  Mass. 

"  Contnins  a  vast  number  of  most  interesting  facts  bearing  upon  the  history  of  the  denooii- 
nation,  and  is  worthy  of  a  wide  circulation.  The  book  will  do  good."— /V^.  i  M.  SkmU, 
D.  D.,  Columbian  University,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"You  have  done  your  work  well,  and  I  am  glad  it  is  appreciated  by  the  public.  "—iP/».  J. 
M.  Pendleton,  D.  D. 

"  I  have  read  '  The  Story  of  the  Baptists'  with  much  interest.  1  am  not  surprised  at  it*  r.pi  1 
and  remarkable  success.  It  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  Baptist,  young  and  old"-  li.::.*m 
Cat  heart,  D.  D.,  Author  of  the  Baptist  Encyclopa:dia. 

"  It  deserves  to  be  called  the  '  Hand  Book  of  Baptist  History.'  No  book  contains  sjich  acew- 
nmlationr.  of  knowledge  which  every  Baptist  ought  to  know,  and  not  knowing,  should  ^' J^T 
ashamed  of  his  ignorance.  We  sincerely  trust  that  it  may  have  as  wide  a  sale  as  d.d  ThcodoU* 
Ernest,  and  that  it  may  serve  its  historical  purpose  as  fully  as  did  the  btler  book  lU  bapmiul 
design."— 7.  W.  T.  Boothe,  D.  D.,  Phila. 

"  It  is  a  valuable  compendium  of  B..ptist  history  and  warranU  me  in  endorsing  all  the  good 
things  said  of  it  jn  the  '  notices.'  I  congratulate  you  on  your  succe»."-/'''«iJ^«/  J^^mtt  O. 
Clark,  LL.D.,  William  yeivell  College,  Liberty,  Mo. 


JL.    B.    BI^O"^Ari<T,     ID.  3D.,  LIL..  ID. 

By   DR.    and    MRS.   WM.    E.    HATCHER. 


13mo.,  352  pp..  Cloth,  $1,00. 


-WHJ^T    TSIE    GIRITIOS    SJ^'Z". 


"We  have  read  with  great  interest  this 
work;  we  went  through  the  book  in  one 
afternoon,  omitting  but  few  of  the  351 
pages. — Richmond  Dispatch. 

"Have  read  the  Memoir  of  Dr.  A.  B. 
Brown  witli  thrilling  interest  and  profit. 
Wonderful  genius.  Had  no  idea  we  had 
such  a  man  among  us." 

— /.  W.  M.  Williams,  D.  D. 

"This  volume  is  a  worthy  tribute  of  a 
loving  heart  and  a  graceful  pen  to  the 
memory  of  a  man  of  rare  talents  and  of  still 
rarer  virtues.  If  any  person  can  read  the 
biography  of  Dr.  Brown  without  at  least 
desiring 'to  attain  higher  intellectual  and 
spiritual  life,  such  a  person  must  be  insen- 
sible to  the  influence  of  example." 

—A.  Broaddus,  D.  D.,  Sparta,  Va. 

"Some  of  us  remember  well  the  intel- 
lectual face  and  head  represented  in  the 
frontispiece  to  this  volume.  The  book 
itself  is  a  tribute  of  admiring  Christian 
friendship,  and  supplies  a  most  interesting 
record  of  a  noble  and  beautiful  career. 
The  addresses  of  Dr.  Brown  are  a  valuable 
feature  of  the  hook."— Standard. 

"This  is  a  collection  of  loving  sketches 
of  a  noble,  remarkable  and  learned  meta- 
physician, mathematician  and  linguist.  His 
diffidence  alone  prevented  such  publicity 
as  would  have  insured  fame  and  rank 
among  the  scholarly  and  pious  of  the  land. 
The  book  is  full  of  deserved  tributes  to 
one  of  the  best  endowed  men  of  mind, 
heart  and  piety.  The  memory  of  Dr.  Brown 
deserves  the  perpetuity  which  his  influ- 
ence is  sure  to  have.  He  was  among  the 
great  and  good  who  never  die."— National 
Baptist. 

"We  knew  Dr.  Brown  personally  and 
loved  him  tenderly,  and  in  view  of  this  fact 
are  all  the  better  prepared  to  appreciate 
this  memoir.  The  'Sketch'  is  carefully 
prepared,  well  written  and  candid."— Cen- 
tral Baptist,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"The  work  is  well  done  by  editors  and 
publishers,  and  deserves  to  be  read  by 
every  Virginia  Baptist  anfl  thousands  in 
other  States." — Relujious  Herald. 

"I  have  been  deeply  interested  in  the 
clear  and  striking  portraiture  given  us  of 
one  of  the  purest  and  best  of  men,  ami 
one  of  the  noblest  and  most  thoughtful  of 
our  scholars  and  teachers."— T/ios.  Hume, 
Jr.,  D.  D. 


"The  life  of  Dr.  Brown  is  intensely  in- 
teresting."—T.  W.  Sydnor,  D.  D. 

"This  is  a  loving  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  a  noble  man.  Dr.  Brown  was  an  ardent, 
thorough  scholar.  In  metaphysics,  he 
stood  without  a  peer  among  his  brethren, 
and  he  was  hardly  less  distinguished  as  a 
linguist.  His  memory  in  his  native  State 
is  fondly  cherished,  and  this  memorial  vol- 
ume wifl  be  a  treasured  possession  in  many 
homes  in  Virginia,  and  especially  where 
those  are  to  be  found  who  have  shared  in 
his  ministry  or  his  instruction." — Zion's 
Advocate. 

"This  is  an  affectionate  tribute  of  friends, 
well  and  fitly  rendered.  We  are  glad  to 
help  perpetuate  the  memory  of  such  a  man, 
and  to  place  him  before  the  young  as  an 
example,  and  hence  trust  that  the  book 
will  have  a  large  sale." — Journal  and  Mes- 
senger. 

"The  publishers  have  gotten  up  the  book 
in  really  excellent  style,  and  have  produced 
a  fine  specimen  of  bookmaker's  art.  In  a 
word,  this  is  a  worthy  tribute  to  one  of  the 
grandest  intellects  and  noblest  men  who 
ever  adorned  the  pulpit  or  the  professor's 
chair,  and  should  have  a  wide  sale. 

— /.  Wm.  Jones,  D.  D. 

"  The  book  sets  forth  clearlj^  Dr.  A.  B. 
Brown.  It  is  not  a  eulogy  of  him ;  indeed, 
there  are  some  things  mentioned  which 
some  of  his  admirers  would  prefer  were 
omitted,  but  they  are  put  in  because  need- 
ful to  complete  the  picture  and  to  show  the 
man  as  he  actually'  was.  The  editors  must 
have  got  their  metiiods  of  treatment  from 
the  Bible,  since  they  deal  with  Dr.  B.  on 
the  same  principle  on  which  the  sacred 
writers  deal  with  Abraham,  Jacob,  David, 
Elijah,  Paul  and  the  rest.  And  that  is  the 
only  risht  way  to  do  W— Western  Recorder, 
Louisville,  Ky. 

"I  thank  you  very  sincerely  for  the  copy 
of  the  biography  of  Dr.  Brown.  I  have  not 
had  a  chance  yet  to  read  it,  as  one  member 
of  the  family  after  another  has  been  de- 
vouring it.  They  are  delighted,  and  some 
of  tliem  are  better  judges  than  your  corres- 
pondent, but  he  claims  the  privilege  of 
reading  and  judging  for  himself,  and  thinks 
perhaps  the  half  has  not  been  told  him.  I 
doulit  not,  that  the  authors  have  risen  to 
the  height  of  the  subject,  and  if  so,  they 
have  done  grandly.— if.  A.  Tapper,  D.D. 


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